Sport: TNT & Trumps

(2 of 2)

By the time the ball clubs reached Chicago for the fourth game, a bumper crop of 400 flip-flopping newsmen had made the Cubs 11-to-5 favorites again. Grimm's frisky Cubs seemed to have more life than the lifeless Tigers—even on the bench. Jolly Cholly got kissed by Actress June Haver, and was told by Mrs. Grimm not to come home without a victory. But Steve O'Neill had been busy brewing a batch of pitching TNT—Trout, Newhouser, Trucks.

Paul ("Dizzy") Trout, well rested, calmly polished his glasses after nearly every pitch, and polished off the Cubs with five hits. Score: Detroit 4, Chicago 1.

Steve O'Neill, more confident than ever about his TNT, could go to Sunday Mass with no worldly intent to take an extra tug at his beads—in supplication for so mundane a thing as a World Series victory. Once again the Tigers were favorites, and Jolly Cholly slept poorly, knowing that Hal Newhouser would be throwing them in against his club.

Though Newhouser's Tiger-mates lost balls in the sun and threw late to the wrong bases, Lefty Hal never wavered. Big Hank belted three two-baggers. Score: Detroit 8, Chicago 4.

The Tigers now led for the first time, three games to two. In two previous series, 1934's and 1940's, they had got that far and foozled. With Fireballer Trucks on tap, Steve (& Mary) O'Neill were sitting pretty. Charlie (& Lillian) Grimm had no choice but to come back with his trump after only two days' rest.

Trucks lasted four innings, was followed by four Tiger pitchers. Big Hank's second homer of the series evened the score in the eighth inning. Passeau lasted six, Wyse one; Borowy was the fourth Cub hurler, and the winner—after 28 hits and five errors in twelve innings, the longest World Series game on record (3 hrs. 28 min) Score: Chicago 8, Detroit 7.

Said Grimm: "Let me take my store teeth out so I can talk louder. . . . It's wonderful . . . just wonderful!''

For the two teams that had just managed to squeak into 1945's Series, there was just one last squeak left.