Game 101

July 29, 1928 – Indians Hit 24 Singles, Bat Around in Three Huge Innings to Defeat Yankees

The Indians and Yankees were at the corner of 66th and Lexington for this Sunday afternoon contest. Joe Shaute was pitching for the Tribe against George Pipgras. 

Babe Ruth struck first with a single to right. Bob Meusel took advantage of an error by Indians right fielder Homer Summa to score from first base. Shaute would regain his composure and get both Lou Gehrig and Mark Koenig to pop out to end the inning. 

The Indians batted around and then some in the bottom of the first, sending thirteen batters to the plate. Langford singled, Lind walked, Sewell singled, Johnny Hodapp doubled to score two, Morgan had a two RBI single, and Summa singled. Yankees manager Miller Huggins called for Wilcy Moore out of the bullpen.

Wilcy did not fare much better. George Gerken singled, he struck out Luke Sewell, and then Ed Morgan scored on a fielder’s choice hit by Joe Shaute. Sam Langford grounded out with the bases loaded, but forced in Langford. Carl Lind had a two-run single before Joe Sewell finally grounded into the third out. The score was 8 to 1 after 1 inning. 

After the Yankees were retired with only one hit in the top of the second, Wilcy Moore returned to the mound. Hodapp singled. Ed Morgan hit into a fielder’s choice, but ended up safe due to the Yankee second baseman’s error. Gerken singled again, and Sewell cleared the bases with a triple into League Park’s spacious outfield. Myles Thomas was brought in to relieve Moore on the mound. 

Thomas lasted only four batters. Shaute reached base on Tony Lazzeri’s second error of the inning at second base. Then Langford, Lind, and Joe Sewell singled in succession. The Yankees called on Hank Johnson to stop the bleeding. 

Johnson gave up consecutive RBI singles to Hodapp and Morgan out of the gate. Homer Summa recorded the second out of the inning on a sacrifice fly that scored Hodapp. George Gerken struck out to end the second. The score was Cleveland 17 New York 1. 

The teams traded runs in the third, and New York tacked on another in the top of the fourth. Hank Johnson survived until the bottom of the sixth, when the Indians struck again with two outs. With Johnny Hodapp on second, Luke Sewell, Shaute, Langford and Lind hit consecutive singles. Archie Campbell came on for New York to relieve Johnson. 

Joe Sewell and Johnny Hodapp hit the fifth and sixth consecutive two-out singles for the Tribe before Ed Morgan grounded out to end the inning with the score 24 – 3. 

Babe Ruth and Leo Durocher had RBI hits in the ninth to close the deficit to 24-6. The Indians final batting line was 24 runs on 27 hits and 4 walks. They were 19 for 31 with runners in scoring position. The game stood for a time as the most singles in a nine inning game, but was surpassed by the 1992 Milwaukee Brewers when they hit 26 singles against the Blue Jays 

Baseball Reference Box Score

Game 31

May 29, 1934 – Earl Averill Walkoff Double in Extras

Connie Mack’s Athletics were wrapping up a weekend series at League Park on this Monday afternoon. The A’s had some outstanding athletes on the roster in 1934 and some even more outstanding names such as Doc Cramer, Pinky Higgins, and Rabbit Warstler.

Warstler led off the game with a single off Indians starter Oral Hildebrand. Warstler stole second and was driven home when Jimmie Foxx sent Hildebrand’s first pitch over the League Park wall.

With two outs in the bottom of the first, the “Earl of Snohomish” answered with a home run of his own. In the bottom of the second, Hal Trosky tied the game with an RBI double.

The A’s would pull ahead again in the top of the 4th with Rabbit Warstler once again leading off with a double. Jimmie Foxx would once again drive him home with an inside-the-park home run.

Indians right fielder Bob Seeds walked to lead off the bottom of the third. Bill Kickerbocker moved seeds over with a single to right field. Averill grounded to short, scoring Seeds. Knickerbocker was forced out at second. Joe Vosmik and Odell Hale got aboard to load the bases, and then A’s pitcher Johnny Marcum hit Frankie Pytlak, forcing Averill home and tying the game.

Hildebrand would not give up another hit until the top of the 8th–a double by Johnny Marcum that was ultimately harmless.

Monte Pearson replaced Hildebrand on the mound for the Tribe in the 9th. With two outs, Pearson walked Foxx and then gave up the tying run via a triple by A’s shortstop Eric McNair. Pearson got Lou Finney to groundout to end the inning.

The Tribe were unable to score in the bottom of the 9th, stranding Frankie Pytlak on third and forcing extra innings. Pinky Higgins led off the A’s half of the 10th with a double, but Pearson was able to retire the next three A’s without incident.

In the bottom of the 10th, Bill Knickerbocker poked a single to center field. Earl Averill stepped in and knocked a double into left field. Kickerbocker hustled around to score from first and end the game. Averill’s three hits, three RBI, and one intentional walk were key in securing the extra-inning win and the series sweep of the As.

Averill’s career total of 226 homers was a franchise record for 55 years and has only been surpassed by Jim Thome (337), Albert Belle (242), and Manny Ramirez (236).

Jason Pierre-Paul could take a page out of Averill’s book. Just before Fourth of July 1935, Averill was lighting fireworks with his children and one exploded while he was holding it. He suffered burns to his face, chest, and hands. He still hit .288 for the season and made the All-Star team.