Video Review of Book 4 and Semifinals Preview

Diamond Legacies 1948 was recently featured on Kurt Bergland's Baseball World. A big thank you to Kurt for discussing the latest volume of my game on his channel. Click the image below to watch the video.

Next item of business, the semifinals of my Tournament of Champions is set to begin. The 1927 New York Yankees will face the 1948 Cleveland Indians in one bracket. In the other bracket the 1934 St. Louis Cardinals will battle the 1934 Philadelphia Stars. This round will be best two-of three. As the higher seeded teams, the Yankees and Cardinals will host Game 1 and Game 3 if a third contest is necessary. The three-inning pitching restriction from Round 1 is no longer in effect, but the games are assumed to be played on consecutive days. So a starter who pitches deep into Game 1 could not appear again in the series without facing significant overuse modifiers.

Lastly, work has begun on Book 5 in the Diamond Legacies series. Your clue for the year featured in this volume is this: near the end of the book there will be a picture of a man who was the Supreme Commander of Allied Forces. That wasn't his job when the picture was taken, but it was a position he had held earlier. If you know who that man is, you can narrow down the range of years for Volume 5.

Cardinals vs. Red Sox

The 1975 AL champion Boston Red Sox travelled to Sportsman's Park to take on the 1934 MLB champion St. Louis Cardinals in the final first-round game of the Tournament of Champions. Combining for six innings, Luis Tiant and Rick Wise allowed only one hit and three walks while keeping the home team off the scoreboard. Redbird hurlers Dizzy Dean and his brother Paul similarly held Boston in check during their five frames. Jesse Haines followed by tossing three more scoreless innings for the Cards.

The game remained 0-0 into the eighth. In the bottom of that frame, with Jim Willoughby on the hill for Boston, Ripper Collins batted with two men on and one out. The Cardinal first baseman drilled a shot off the centerfield wall to plate two runs. Following a Medwick fly out, Jack Rothrock doubled home another run. Ernie Orsatti followed with a single to tally the fourth run of the inning for the Redbirds.

Veteran Dazzy Vance came on to close out the game, but ran into trouble. A Dwight Evans double and a Cecil Cooper single gave the Red Sox two baserunners with two outs. Fred Lynn and Denny Doyle followed with RBI-singles to bring Carl Yastrzemski to the plate representing the go-ahead run. Yaz lined a screamer back through the box that Vance somehow speared to end the game.

The Gas House Gang advances to the semifinals where they will face the Philadelphia Stars. Though he had only one hit in four at-bats, Ripper Collins is the player of the game for his two-run double that put St. Louis ahead in the eighth.

1934 Cardinals 4, 1975 Red Sox 2

Next up is the first game of the Semifinals: 1927 Yankees vs. 1948 Indians. 

Reds vs. Stars

The 1934 NNL champion Philadelphia Stars battled the 1975 MLB champion Cincinnati Reds in our next first round matchup. Though the Big Red Machine boasted a stronger offense, the Stars deployed an elite pitching staff led by their ace Slim Jones. The dominant southpaw displayed his excellence by striking out six straight Reds. But with one out in the bottom of the third, Cesar Geronimo broke that string of Ks with a solo homer to right.

Gary Nolan, Pedro Bourbon, and Clay Carroll kept the Philadelphia offense in check, preserving the 1-0 Cincinnati lead into the ninth. Though the Reds offense generated only two hits the entire game, that did not seem to be a problem as fireballing closer Rawley Eastwick came in to finish off the win for the Big Red Machine. But the Stars Hall-of-Fame catcher Biz Mackey singled to right with one out. After Jake Dunn grounded out, the light-hitting Pete Robinson was due up next. Pitcher-manager Webster McDonald called on Phil Cockrell to pinch hit as his team's last hope. Though a pitcher, Cockrell was a good hitter who had batted over .300 on the year. Connecting on an Eastwick fastball over the outer edge of the plate, he drove the ball over the right field wall to give the Stars the lead. McDonald retired the Reds in order in the ninth to close out the stunning victory for the visitors. One out away from elimination, Philadelphia advances to the semifinals with a dramatic ninth-inning rally. Though his only appearance in this contest came in one pinch hit at-bat, the Player of the Game is Phil Cockrell.

Philadelphia Stars 2, Cincinnati Reds 1

Next up is the final first round game, the 1934 St. Louis Cardinals vs. the 1975 Boston Red Sox.

American Giants vs. Indians

Schorling Park in Chicago was the venue for the first-round game between the 1927 Chicago American Giants and the 1948 Cleveland Indians. The dominant southpaw Bill Foster took the hill for the home team, while the visitors opened with Bob Lemon on the mound.

In the bottom of the second, Chicago put men on second and third with nobody out. Sensing that runs would not be easy to come by against the elite American Giants staff, Lou Boudreau pulled his infield in. The move succeeded with third baseman Ken Keltner throwing out Steel Arm Davis at the plate. Cleveland threatened in the top of the third after Eddie Robinson doubled and advanced to third on a sacrifice fly by Jim Hegan. One of the top hitting pitchers of his day, Bob Lemon then lined a single into left to give the Indians the lead.

In the fourth, Chicago catcher James Bray doubled and advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt. Cleveland pitcher Bob Feller then fired a heater past John Hines to record a key strikeout. Rapid Robert did not allow another hit during his three-inning stint. The game remained 1-0 into the bottom of the eighth when Jim Brown and Pythias Russ reached to put two men on with one out for the home team. But Steel Arm Davis lined into a double play to end the threat. Cleveland's rookie southpaw sensation Gene Bearden retired the side in order in the ninth to save the victory.

For pitching three scoreless innings and driving in the game's only run, Bob Lemon is the Player of the Game. Cleveland advances to the semifinals, where they will face the 1927 Yankees.

Cleveland Indians 1, Chicago American Giants 0

Next up is our third first-round matchup, the 1975 Cincinnati Reds vs. the 1934 Philadelphia Stars.

Yankees vs. Grays

Yankee Stadium hosted the first game of the 8-team Tournament of Champions. Waite Hoyt started for the 1927 MLB champion New York Yankees. Tom Parker took the hill for the 1948 Negro League champion Homestead Grays. According to tournament rules, all pitchers are limited to three innings in this round.

Grays centerfielder Luis Marquez led off the game with a single and then stole second. One batter later Luke Easter singled to put Homestead on the board. The game remained 1-0 heading into the fifth, causing many observers to speculate about a possible upset. In the bottom of the frame, New York put two men on with two outs. The Yankees eighth-place hitter, catcher Pat Collins, drilled a liner into the left-center field gap to give his team a 2-1 lead. The flustered Homestead pitcher Garnett Blair then walked Yankee hurler Herb Pennock. Earle Combs and Mark Koenig delivered singles to drive home two more runs. Babe Ruth then blasted a three-run shot into the left field seats. Lou Gehrig followed with a solo homer to tally eight runs in the inning for the Bombers.

Homestead plated a run in the seventh and again in the eighth off Dutch Ruether to chip away at the deficit, but it was too little, too late. The 1927 Yankees advance to the semifinals. The Player of the Game is Pat Collins. Though the least-heralded member of Murderers' Row, the catcher went 3 for 3 with two key RBIs and a run scored.

New York Yankees 8, Homestead Grays 3

Next up, the 1927 Chicago American Giants vs. the 1948 Cleveland Indians.

Tournament of Champions

For my next set of games, I will be playing a tournament featuring the top two teams from each of the four published Diamond Legacies volumes. The first round will be a single elimination game. The second round (semifinals) will be best two-of-three. And the finals will be a four-of-seven series. All pitchers will be limited to no more than three innings of work in the first-round game.

Tournament brackets are based on seedings with the following first-round matchups. Higher seeds are the home team.

(1) 1927 New York Yankees vs. (8) 1948 Homestead Grays

(4) 1927 Chicago American Giants vs. (5) 1948 Cleveland Indians

(3) 1975 Cincinnati Reds vs. (6) 1934 Philadelphia Stars

(2) 1934 St. Louis Cardinals vs. (7) 1975 Boston Red Sox

All players on the team rosters are assumed to be healthy, so players like Jim Rice who missed the 1975 World Series will be eligible to play in this tournament.

Up first, the Yankees vs. the Grays.

1948 World Series MVP

The MVP of my World Series replay is Marv Rickert, a player who wasn't even on the Boston roster until the last week of the 1948 regular season. After the Braves lost their regular left fielder Jeff Heath to an ankle injury in late September, Boston made an urgent call to Rickert to join the team. Though Marv played in only three games for the Braves, the team made a successful appeal to Commissioner Happy Chandler to make him eligible for the World Series (Boston had already lost another starting outfielder, Jim Russell, to bacterial endocarditis earlier in the season).

Rickert played well in the actual 1948 World Series and he was the Braves top offensive star in my series replay. He batted .500 with four extra base hits and five RBI. Despite sitting on the bench in Game 3, Rickert led all players with 5 runs scored in the series. Other key contributors to Boston's victory included Eddie Stanky (.421, 5 RBI), Alvin Dark (.333, 4 runs scored), and Bob Elliott (.316, 1 HR, 4 RBI). On the mound, Johnny Sain posted a 1.53 ERA in his two starts and Nels Potter picked up two wins while not allowing an earned run in his 9 2/3 innings. Warren Spahn tossed a shutout in his only appearance.

Lou Boudreau led the offensive attack for Cleveland, batting .529 with three walks. Though he was continually on base, his teammates failed to drive him in for even a single run scored in the series. Wally Judnich was the only other Indian to excel at the plate, batting .357 with a homer and three runs scored. Bob Feller pitched well in his two starts (3.27 ERA), but received little run support. Gene Bearden allowed only one earned run in eight innings while picking up Cleveland's only win.