In the end, the 1939 New York Yankees couldn’t close the deal. Joe DiMaggio did his part, driving in 2 runs with a 2-out double off Lefty Stewart in the 3rd and scoring on Charlie Keller’s single to give New York a 3-0 lead. But the 1933 Washington Nationals responded in their half of the inning. Facing Bump Hadley, Heinie Manush and Goose Goslin singled with 2 outs, and Joe Cronin followed with a 3-run home run to tie the game. George Selkirk put the Yankees ahead 4-3 with an RBI single in the 4th. The Yankees couldn’t extend the lead in the 5th when Red Rolfe hit a leadoff double and was stranded at 3rd. Hadley cruised through the 8th as Washington bats went silent. In the 9th, Selkirk singled and Rolfe walked, but Tommy Henrich popped out. DiMaggio had a final chance to extend the lead, but struck out to end the inning, straining his abdomen and exiting the game. The Nationals woke up in the 9th. Fred Schulte led off with a walk, and Joe Kuhel followed with a double. Cliff Bolton was intentionally walked to load the bases, with the winning run already on 2nd. Oral Hildebrand came in in relief for New York. With the infield drawn in, Ossie Blueage grounded to Rolfe, but Schulte beat the throw at the plate to tie the game. Luke Sewell followed with a clean base-hit in the gap to give Washington the walk-off win. The Yankees came into the Tournament as clear favorites, but couldn’t top Washington, going 1-6 against the Nationals. Washington will now face a rematch with the 1931 Philadelphia Athletics for the American League Championship.

’39 Yankees @ ’33 Senators – 9/26/23

A Travis Jackson error led to 4 unearned runs in the 2nd inning, which put the New York Giants in a hole they couldn’t dig out of, as the 1931 St. Louis Cardinals swept them with an 8-5 win to eliminate them from the Tournament. The Cardinals had runners on 2nd and 3rd with 2 outs against Freddie Fitzsimmons when Jimmie Wilson hit a sharp grounder to Jackson at short. Jackson misplayed the hop, extending the inning. Sparky Adams followed with a bases-clearning double, and scored on George Watkins’ single to give St. Louis the 4-0 lead. The inning seemed to shake Fitzsimmons, as he allowed 3 straight singles to lead off both the 3rd and 4th innings. He allowed 9 hits and 7 runs over 3 innings. Roy Parmalee came in in relief and held the Cardinals to just 2 hits in 6 innings the rest of the way. One of those hits was an inside the park home run for Charlie Gelbert on an odd bounce off the wall in centerfield in the 5th. Parmalee retired the last 13 St. Louis batters of the game. But the damage was too much. Bill Hallahan himself had a stretch where he retired 12 straight Giants. In the 8th, New York finally put something together, scoring 3 on a Bill Terry triple and Mel Ott single. Hallahan left after 7 2/3 innings, allowing 4 runs on 8 hits. Jim Lindsey allowed another run in the 9th, but that wasn’t enough for New York. As the Giants head home, the Cardinals face a rematch with the 1935 Chicago Cubs for the National League Championship.

’31 Cardinals @ ’34 Giants – 9/25/23

Monte Weaver took a shutout into the 8th as the 1933 Washington Senators won Game 3 of the series with the 1939 New York Yankees 3-2 to take a 2-1 series lead. Fred Schulte hit a 2-run double in the 4th and Goose Goslin added an insurance run with a single in the 5th against Atley Donald. Meanwhile, the Yankees offense couldn’t close the deal. They loaded the bases with one out in the 1st inning, but couldn’t score. They had runners on the corners with one out in the 5th and couldn’t score. Weaver worked out of jams to carry a shutout into the 8th. That’s when New York loaded the bases again, this time with nobody out. Weaver induced 3 straight grounders, and the Yankees scored 2 runs to give them a shot. But Jack Russell closed the door with a perfect 9th inning for his 4th save of the Tournament. The Yankees will need to win the next two games to avoid elimination.

’39 Yankees @ ’33 Senators – 9/25/23

The 1933 Washington Senators entered today’s game having hit only 2 home runs in the 13 games they’ve played this Tournament. This was also just a day after they were shutout by the 1939 New York Yankees’ Red Ruffing. That was all a distant memory today, as Washington topped New York 11-7 and hit 3 home runs. It was a back and forth battle early before Joe Cronin hit a 2-run homer in the 5th to put the Senators on top 5-4. Yankees pitcher Lefty Gomez left after just 5 innings, allowing 10 hits and 6 runs. Heinie Manush added a 2-run shot of his own the next inning off reliever Marius Russo. The Yankees battled back against Earl Whitehill, led by Charlie Keller, who was 5 for 5 with 2 homers, a double, and 5 RBI. But Dave Harris had a game of his own. Harris finished 4 for 5 with 4 RBI, including a 2-run homer in the 9th that finished off the Yankees for good. The teams head to Washington tied 1-1.

’33 Senators @ ’39 Yankees – 9/23/23

After dropping Game 1 to the St. Louis Cardinals, the New York Giants turned to Carl Hubbell to get them back in the series. St. Louis wasted no time getting on the board. Sparky Adams set the tone, leading off the game with a single and scoring. Chick Hafey hit a mammoth 2-run home run later in the inning for his 4th of the Tournament to put the Cardinals on top 3-0. Hubbell settled down until the 6th when Hafey hit a leadoff triple and scored. George Watkins drove in Mel Ott in the 7th for New York’s first run against Paul Derringer. But the Cardinals weren’t done. St. Louis collected 4 straight hits to lead off the bottom of the inning, led by Adams’ double, en route to two more runs for the Cardinals. New York rallied with 4 baserunners to chase Derringer in the 8th, and Jim Lindsey couldn’t stop the Giants from scoring 4 runs to cut the lead to 6-5. Bill Terry gave a little hope when he hit a 2-out single in the 9th, but Ott grounded out to Ripper Collins to end the game. The Giants face an 0-2 series, and elimination, heading to New York. Hubbell allowed 15 hits in 7 1/3 innings, and is now just 2-2 in the Tournament.

’34 Giants @ ’31 Cardinals – 9/23/23

One bad inning proved the difference in today’s game between the 1934 New York Giants and the 1931 St. Louis Cardinals. The Cardinals scored early when Frankie Frisch drove in Sparky Adams with a single in the 1st, and scored on Chick Hafey’s sacrifice fly later in the inning. Charlie Gelbert’s throwing error in the 3rd led to an unearned run for the Giants to cut the lead to 2-1. It was in the 5th that the Cardinals broke things open against Hal Schumacher. Hafey drew a bases-loaded walk, and Pepper Martin followed with a 2-run double on the way to a 5-run inning for St. Louis that saw all 9 hitters come to the plate. While Schumacher didn’t allow another hit, the damage was done. New York had some opportunities, stranding the bases-loaded with one out in the 5th, but Syl Johnson pitched around many of the tough spots he found himself in. The Giants scored 2 runs in the 7th for his final inning, and then a run in the 8th and 9th against reliever Jesse Haines. But Gus Mancuso flew out with the tying run on 2nd and the Cardinals won it 7-5 to take the 1st game of the series. Frisch finished 3 for 4. Johnson picked up his 2nd win of the Tournament. Bill Terry was 4 for 5 with 2 RBI in the losing effort.

’34 Giants @ ’31 Cardinals – 9/22/23

In their 1st series, the 1933 Washington Senators swept the 1939 New York Yankees in 3 games. Not this time. On the back of Red Ruffing, the Yanks shutout the Senators 3-0 to take Game 1 of the best-of-5 Loser’s Bracket series. Ruffing allowed just 1 run on 5 hits in his last start, a win against the 1935 Detroit Tigers. Ruffing has now allowed 5 hits in each of his 3 starts in the Tournament. Washington’s General Crowder kept pace, taking a scoreless game into the 6th. That’s when Joe DiMaggio hit a solo home run to break the scoreless tie. After a slow start in the Tournament, DiMaggio is heating up. He finished 2 for 4 with 2 RBI and has now homered in his past two games. Ossie Blueage threw one away for an unearned run later in the 6th. Blueage led off the 7th with another error, bobbling a hard grounder from George Selkirk. It would lead to another unearned run. Crowder allowed 10 hits, but only 1 earned run in his complete game loss. He’s now 2-2. Washington will hope to bounce back tomorrow.

’33 Senators @ ’39 Yankees – 9/22/23

After losing the 1st two games of the series with the 1931 St. Louis Cardinals, the 1935 Chicago Cubs came back to win the next two and force a Game 5. Back in the friendly confines of Wrigley Field, the Cubs left little doubt on who would win the series, chasing Burleigh Grimes in the 3rd inning. The Cubs offense collected 22 hits and scored 14 runs to crush Cardinals’ hopes of advancing in the Winner’s Bracket. After scoring a run in the 2nd and three runs in the 3rd, the Cubs scored 7 in the 4th, sending 13 batters to the plate. Augie Galan set the tone, going 5 for 6 in the leadoff spot with 2 doubles and scoring 3 times. Frank Demaree went 4 for 6, and even #9 hitter Billy Jurges went 4 for 5. While Chuck Klein is hitting just .167 in the Tournament, and Jurges raised his average to .290, every other Cubs hitter is batting over .300, making them the early favorite to win it all. The Cardinals did manage 2 runs off Bill Lee, who went 7 1/3 to pick up the 14-2 win. The Cardinals will face a rematch with the 1934 New York Giants in the Loser’s Bracket. The Cardinals won the prior series between the teams that went the full 5 games.

’31 Cardinals @ ’35 Cubs – 9/21/23