April 20, 1948 - Opening Day - Boston (Sain) at Philadelphia (Leonard)

-

 April 20, 1948 - Opening Day - Boston (Sain) at Philadelphia (Leonard)

The Braves jumped out to a 4-0 lead after 3 innings, so when the Phillies put two runners in scoring position in the bottom of the 5th, Phillies manager Ben Chapman decided to pinch hit Blatnik for Dutch Leonard to try and get something going. Blatnik cam through with a 2-run single, making it a 4-2 game after 5.

Unfortunately, the move was a double-edged sword, as the Philly bullpen immediately handed up a 4-run 6th to the Braves, who would never look back.

Johnny Sain went the distance for his first win. Russell, Heath, and Masi all homered for the Braves, but it was Eddie Stanky who set the table and took home the Bayer Aspirin Player of the Game with two hits, two scored, and two driven in, not to mention a rally killing 5-2-3 double play.


4-20-1948 (Day Game): 1948-BSN (1-0) vs. 1948-PHI (0-1)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
1948-BSN 1 0 3 0 0 4 0 0 1 9 11 0
1948-PHI 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 0 3 9 1
1948-BSN AB R H RBI BB SO AVE
E. Stanky (2B) 5 2 2 2 0 0 .400
J. Russell (CF) 5 1 1 2 0 1 .200
E. Torgeson (1B) 3 1 0 0 1 1 .000
B. Elliott (3B) 5 1 3 1 0 0 .600
J. Heath (LF) 4 1 3 2 1 1 .750
T. Holmes (RF) 3 0 0 1 2 0 .000
P. Masi (C) 5 2 2 1 0 1 .400
S. Sisti (SS) 3 1 0 0 2 1 .000
J. Sain (P) 4 0 0 0 0 2 .000
37 9 11 9 6 7 .297
4 for 12 with runners in scoring position.
3B: B. Elliott[1]
HR: J. Russell[1], J. Heath[1], P. Masi[1]
RBI: E. Stanky(2)[2], J. Russell(2)[2], B. Elliott[1], J. Heath(2)[2], T. Holmes[1], P. Masi[1]
HBP: E. Torgeson[1]
GIDP: J. Sain[1]
LOB: 8
1948-PHI AB R H RBI BB SO AVE
R. Ashburn (LF) 5 0 1 0 0 0 .200
E. Verban (2B) 3 0 1 0 1 1 .333
B. Haas (3B) 4 0 1 0 0 0 .250
D. Sisler (1B) 4 0 0 0 0 0 .000
D. Ennis (RF) 4 1 1 0 0 1 .250
H. Walker (CF) 4 1 2 1 0 0 .500
E. Miller (SS) 4 0 1 0 0 0 .250
A. Seminick (C) 4 1 1 0 0 0 .250
D. Leonard (P) 1 0 0 0 0 1 .000
J. Blatnik (PH5) 1 0 1 2 0 0 1.000
E. Heusser (P6) 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
S. Nahem (P6) 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
G. Hamner (PH7) 1 0 0 0 0 0 .000
C. Bicknell (P8) 1 0 0 0 0 0 .000
36 3 9 3 1 3 .250
2 for 3 with runners in scoring position.
2B: D. Ennis[1], A. Seminick[1]
RBI: H. Walker[1], J. Blatnik(2)[2]
E: B. Haas[1]
DP: 1
LOB: 7
1948-BSN IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA
J. Sain (W, 1-0) 9.0 9 3 3 1 3 0 3.00
9.0 9 3 3 1 3 0 3.00
Game Score: J. Sain (68)
Pitches Thrown: J. Sain (154)
1948-PHI IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA
D. Leonard (L, 0-1) 5.0 6 4 4 2 4 2 7.20
E. Heusser 0.2 3 4 4 2 0 1 54.00
S. Nahem 1.1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0.00
C. Bicknell 2.0 2 1 1 1 2 0 4.50
9.0 11 9 9 6 7 3 9.00
Game Score: D. Leonard (34)
Pitches Thrown: D. Leonard (75)
DDBB Player of the Game: E. Stanky
Shibe Park 👎, Philadelphia, PA

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

April 5, 1973 - Opening Day, Part One - What a way to begin!

-
Image
A crowd of 51,579 packed into Riverfront Stadium as the Cincinnati Reds hosted the first game of the 1973 season against the San Francisco Giants on April 5, 1973. The Reds sent Don Gullett (9-10, 3.94 in '72) to the mound, while the Giants countered with Juan Marichal (6-16, 3.71 in '72). Cincinnati began 1973 as the defending National League Champion, having lost the World Series in seven games to the Oakland A's. The Reds compiled a 95-59 record in 1972 and featured the reigning N.L. Most Valuable Player in catcher Johnny Bench, whose 40 home runs and 125 RBIs led the league and captured two-thirds of the batting triple crown. San Francisco finished twenty-six and a half games behind Cincinnati, posting a 69-86 record. They had traded a declining Willie Mays to the Mets in May, and their roster, featuring young talent in Bobby Bonds, Garry Maddox, Chris Speier, and pitcher Ron Bryant alongside veterans like Marichal and Willie McCovey, didn't come together in a way t...
Read more

Introducing 1973 - Where it all began (for me)

-
Image
I never got to see Roberto Clemente play. We missed each other by a day. His tragic death in a plane crash on December 31, 1972 was the end of an era, a simpler time in baseball that preceded free agency, the designated hitter, and a time when the sportswriters protected the players from themselves. Many of these changes were in motion throughout the late 1960's, but the death of Clemente on New Year's Eve 1972 was the punctuation mark on the baseball game my father grew up watching and the one I've watched for the last fifty-one years. I was born on January 1, 1973, in the proverbial shadow of Yankee Stadium and my father's boyhood hero, Mickey Mantle. I grew up watching another Oklahoma kid, Bobby Murcer, on my not-yet-absentee father's knee. My earliest baseball heroes were Catfish Hunter (the spitting image of my Uncle Eddie), Lou Piniella (because it sounds like vanilla), Thurman Munson (one tough S.O.B., according to my dad), and Reggie Jackson (larger than li...
Read more