Game One | Game Two | Game Three | Game Four
Chicago Tribune, 29 September 1932
NEW YORK GAINS LEAD OVER CUBS BY 12-6 VICTORY
Gomez to Pitch in Second Game.
The second game of the world series will be played at the Yankee stadium today starting at 12:30 o clock (Chicago time). Lon Warneke will pitch for Chicago and Vernon Gomez for Nev York. The forecast is for fair and cooler weather.
Thc White Sox yesterday announced the purchase of Outfielders Al Simmons and Mule Haas and Third Baseman Jimmy Dykes from the Philadelphia Athletics.
BY IRVING VAUGHAN.
All the luster the Cubs built up around in the National league race was erased today. The Yanks, true to custom. tore the Chicago club apart, gave it a lesson in baseball, and captured the world series opener, 12 to 6, before 41,459, a crowd which didn’t begin to fill the stadium.
No deftness of play was involved in this decision, the fIrst of four needed to consign the so called world title to a definite place. The Yanks simply hit when hits were needed and the Cubs didn’t. The Cub pitching, in which the gallant Guy Bush. the venerable Burleigh Crimes, and, Bob Smith figured, were almost a series record breaker for its lack of quality. The same Cubs who tore through their own league by sheer courage plainly panic stricken before the finish.
Yankee Stadium
1932 World Series Opening Day
Warneke vs. Gomez Today.
If a new complexion is to be given the event, the 23 year old Lon Warneke will have to apply it tomorrow when he Is put face to face with Vernon Gomez, the Yanks’ great left hander. in the second of the series.
The battle was brilliant as befits a world series fight only. for the first three Innings. The Cubs burst forth unexpectedly in the first inning with a pair of runs off Charley Ruffing. Babe Ruth’s old age fielding helped In the incident which startled some of the confident Yankee partisans. And the two runs grew in size as Bush. bearing down un every pitch, kept the American leaguers off the bases until the fourth. Then Ruth and his mighty pal, Lou Gehrig, broke loose. Bush pitched himself down in his eagerness to give all he had while he had it.
Gehrig Hits home Run.
It was Gehrig who brought forth the turning point in the fourth. Bush had just given his first pass and Ruth hnd produced the first single, the first Yank run resulting. And then Gehrig hit one. It was somewhere out in the right bleachers. It put the Yanks out in front, 3 to 2. but it was only their first nibble. They were up and going again in the sixth when, with the help of Bush’s wildness, due to his being tired, five men went clattering across the plate before Grimes could subdue the riot.
It must have reminded Joe McCarthy, the Yankee manager, of how twice that many Athletics went home in one Inning in the 1929 world series when he was trying, to lead the Cubs into the big end of the series loot, But Joe was kind enough not to come out to the coaching lines this afternoon to parade his satisfaction before the crestfallen Chicagoans.
Only Three Hits Off Bush.
The one thing Bush did well In his five and one-third innings, of work was to, keep down the total of Yank hits, but it didn’t mean anything. They gathered three runs on the only two safe drives they delivered in, five Innings. In the sixth they produced only one off him before he was given an overdue summons to retire. Along with that lone hit in this inning he handed over four passes, tree of them to the flrst three men. That left a legacy, for GrImes of one out, three men home and three on bases. Before he ended the assault two more scored on a single.
Yankee Stadium
1932 World Series Opening Day
Cold figures are. the best proof of just how little the Cub pitching meant to the American leaguers. Bush, in his short stay after he had. pitched three perfect innings, surrendered three, hits and five bases on balls. Grimes was in there only for one and two-third innings, which was long enough. He gave up one base on balls, three hits, plunked a batter, and delivered a spectacular wild pitch. Smith was around only for one inning, the eighth, but it was sufficient to let the Yanks rip off another pair or hits, good for their final run.
The Cub pitchers weren’t the only ones who offensive when they should have becn defensive. English kicked one, but Bush, although weakening at the time, was able to overcome it. But he was not able to overcome the five run storm which broke in the next inning. Billy Herman blankly held a batted ball while men were running ln the three run seventh. Hartnett lost a play at the plate, although it was excusable. He also made a wide peg to second when a good throw would have helped. This didn’t cost anything. And Johnny Moore ducked away from a high fly that caused Smith’s troubles in the eighth.
There may have been a little bit of mental anguish in what the Cub pitchers did. Apparently they went into the game with some fear of things they had heard about Ruth and Gehrig. Bush stopped both of them once while he had his stuff, but one was checked only because of a brilliant stop by Grimm. After that they were terrors.
When Ruth singled in the fourth it was the first of successive trips to base, two on passes. Bush gave one and Grimes the other. After Gehrig had knocked the bottom out of the gamo with his homer in the fourth, he was on base twice more on a pass ball and a single off Grinies. Between them they carried across the plate exctly half of the Yanks’ dozen runs.
Yankee Stadium
1932 World Series Opening Day
Ruffing Fans Ten.
A few words can well be devoted to Ruffing, the Nokomis, Ill., speed baller. One of the two runs scored off him in the first inning was because of Ruth’s fielding. He then tightened and rolled up a total of eight strikeouts up to the end of the sixth inning. He added two more later to make ten. Two runs In the seventh resulted from Crosettl blundering on what should have been the third out.
The two other Cub tallies, registered In the eighth, were actually legitImate, but by that time the show was as good as over and the customers, who had been by moistened by rain at the start, were walking out on the sad spectacle.
Herman Leads Off with Hit.
Once tile preliminaries had been disposed of and the sun came out in a serious way there wasn’t much of a wait before the fireworks were touched off. Ruffing opened his part of the struggle with two pitches that Herman, the Cub leadoff man, refused to notice. The next came over. It was slapped along the third base line for a foul. Then Ruffing threw another right through the middle and Herman lined It straight into center for a single.
English came up and got himself into a jam with a pair of strikes. Then the hit and run was called for. Twice Herman broke for second and twice English tried to drive the ball behind the runner, but it went into foul territory. He tried it a third time and it worked. The ball shot toward right, too high for Gehrig to reach. Ruth ran over to cut it off, down to grab it on the first hop, but let it bounce over his hands.
Woody Dives Into Third.
Ruth turned in pursuit. His aged legs buckled under him and he went down, but he was up in an instant to clutch the ball as it bounced back off the wall. There were sickening groans from the multitude because the Babe’s infirmities had shown up so early. And there were cheers as Herman went tearing around to the plate and English to third, where he arrived with a headlong slide Just as Ruth’s long throw hit the ground in front of Sewell.
Then Huffing started to pitch. He fooled Cuyler so completely that the veteran fly chaser folded up with a futile third strike. There was none of that for the unerring Stephenson, the so-called Ol’ Hose. A typical Stephenson hit bounced past Ruffing and Luzzeri for a single, on which English scooted home with the second run. And then Ruffing put on a real burst Of pitching that sent Moore and Grimm spinning backwards on strikes.
Hartnett fell the way to start the second inning, giving Rutfing four strikeouts in as many men retired.
Cuyler Singles, Steals Second.
The Cubs put on another flareup in the third, but it was too mild to be of importance. After Herman and English had been set down on infleld rollers, Cuyler banged a single high over short and came close to making an attempt to stretch it into a double. He made the break for second, but turned back. A moment later he went down there on a steal that was so unexpected by Dickey, the Yankee catcher, that he threw- high to Lazzerl. The steal availed nothing, because Stephenson’s low liner sailed straight into Combs’ hands.
The Chicagoans were pounding on the door again in the fourth but the hit needed to blast it open didn’t appear. Moore popped out to start the inning and Grimm struck out for the second time. Ruffing’s fast ball was causing all this trouble. Hartnett. however, timed one properly and pulled around to drill a low liner against the low left field wall for a double.
There was no hesitancy on Ruffing’s part about obeying Manager McCarthy’s order to pass Koenig. But when Ruffing tried to get the bail over for Bush he couldn’t and the Chicago pitcher walked to fill the bases. A moment later Chapman charged over toward the left field line to get Herman’s fly and that was all.
Babe Ruth grounding hard to first during his first plate appearance in the 1932 World Series.
Bush Perfect for Three Innings.
Here’s what Bush did in the perfect first three Innings he pitched: For a starter on his big assignment he fanned Combs, the leadoff man, which, according to baseball superstition, is the equivalent of an invitation to disaster. Sewell fouled to Grimm and the latter dived for a low, hard grounder to rob Ruth of a hit.
Dickey flied to Cuyler for the only ball driven beyond the infield in the second inning. It was almost the same in the third. And then came the first display of the Yanks’ dreaded power on attack.
During his brilliant three innings Bush hadn’t shown even a semblance of wildness. He never was in the hole to the hitters. But when Combs stepped up to open the uphappy fourth Bush was plainly on the verge of weariness. Combs just stood around the plate patiently until a base on balls was forced on him. Sewell tried to poke a ball past Grimm, but the manager- baseman grabbed it for a putout, Combs going to second.
Lou Gehrig after hitting the first home run of the series in the fourth inning.
Along Comes Gehrig.
The famed Mr. Ruth didn’t unload any of his specialties, but he did hammer a single past Grimm on which Combs scored. Then Gebrig broke up the show. Bush pitched cautiously. but couldn’t carry the battle any farther than a 2 and 2 count. The next pitch was the one sent away to distant parts. The ball sailed into the right field bleacher well back of the 350 foot sign. Ruth jogged slowly around the bases, Gehrig followed him, they shook hands at the plate, and the Yanks were out in front, 3 to 2.
It probably was a stroke of fortune for Bush that the Yanks didn’t blemish his record some more in the fifth. His mates did the best they could to bring on this annoyance, but the Mississippian hung on doggedly until he pulled himself out. English started the inning by momentarily fumbling Chapman’s grounder and then, with still enough time to get the man. pulled Grimm off the bag with the throw. Hartnett picked up Crosetti’s bunt and made a valiant attempt to catch Chapman going to second, but the throw wasn’t close to the bag. Hartnett did throw out Chapman at third on Ruffing’s bunt, and a double play, started by Herman, ended the inning abruptly.
Bush Walks Three in Row.
The terrifying sixth, in which five Yanks thundered across the plate and Bush went on his way, began with Sewell walking. Bush by now was devoid of all his cunning. He tried to pitch to Ruth and couldn’t. The Babe waited until given a pass. It was the same with Gehrig. He waited until Bush had produced another pass, filling the bases with none out. Lazzeri helped the Chicago cause a bit by popping to Koenig, but the real bad news came right after this.
With the infield drawn in, Dickey slammed a hit between Herman and second base. It sent Sewell and Ruth skipping across the plate and Gebrig to third. The infield was still in when Chapman bounced to Herman, but Hartnett couldn’t handle the throw in time to keep Gehrig from scoring. Bush walked Crosetti, filling the bases agaIn, and the situation was turned over to Grimes.
A group of Chicago Cubs’ players posing before the first game.
Manager Grimm is in the center.
Combs Drives in Two More.
Ruffing wns the first man to face the veteran spitballer and he sent a hopper to Koenig on which Dickey was at the plate. Then Combs singled to center to drive in Chapman and Crosettl with the last ot the five run cluster. Grimm ran over in front of Herman to make a beautiful pickup of Sewell’s bounder, which he threw to Koenig to end the panic.
It didn’t make much difference to anybody that the Cubs scored a pair of runs in the seventh. Grimes fanned for a starter and Herman singled to center. As a means of protecting Ruth, Combs dash over into right field for Eniglish’s tall fly. Cuyler bounced gently to short and Crosetti. hastening for a possible double play. let the ball roll through his hands. The blunder put Herman on third and Cuyler on second. Stephenson contributed the hit that sent them home. Then Moore walked and the third out was produced on Grimm’s grounder back to the pitcher.
Herman Hesitates, Is Lost.
Grimes discovered in the Yankee seventh that the handling of Ruth and Gehrig was as much a problem for him as it had been for Bush. Burleigh walked the Babe to open the inning and Gehrig burst forth with a scorching single through short, Ruth taking third. In this spot Herman committed an unpardonable offense. He picked up Lazzeri’s grounder and started to throw for the plate, but changed his mind. He turned to throw to Grimm, who was waving frantically for the hall, but Herman couldn’t let it go. Ruth scored on the lapse and Lazzerl was presented with a hit.
The third run scored by the Yanks in the seventh was the outcome of Grimes’ wildness. He hit Dickey on the right ankle with a pitched ball. A fly and a force play registered outs on the next two men, but Ruffing was at the plate Grimes let loose with a beautiful wild pitch that sent Hartnett tearing back to the grandstand. Lazzeri scored and Crosetti was killed off making a half hearted attempt to reach third on the crazy pitch.
Babe Ruth poses with his Wife, Mother in Law and Daughter before Game One of the 1932 World Series
Koenig Smacks Triple.
Two hits were all the Cubs needed for two runs in the eighth. They proved productive because they traveled for extra bases. Hartnett whipped a two bagger to left and scored on Koenig’s triple which dropped between Combs and Ruth. Gudat batting for Grimes, struck out, but on Herman’s infield out, Gehrig to Ruffing, Koenig ran home.
The Yanks enlivened their eighth with a run they could hardly avoid, making the score 12 to 6. Smith fanned Ruffing, after which Combs boosted a fly to center. It fell for a double when Moore lost it in the sun. Combs scored on Sewell’s single through short. And the inning ended with Cuyler backing up against the right field fence for another Gehrig drive which for a few mo-ments carried the earmarks of a homer.
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