Dizzy Trout got past a shaky first inning to return to his dominant self, outdueling Bucky Walters along the way, as the Montgomery Burns defeated the Harlem Knights, 3-1, to win the first game of the 1944 World Series.
The festive mood was dampened somewhat by the War, but there was still excitement all around as these two DBS powerhouses squared off in the post season for just the second time.
The Knights started off the game in the right mood, drawing first blood on Burns' hurler Dizzy Trout. Trout, 16-6 in the regular season, gave up a lead-off single to Stan Spence to start the bottom half of the first inning. After Dixie Walker moved him to second with a slow ground-out, Nick Etten doubled to score Spence and give the Knights a 1-0 lead. However, that was the last base runner Trout would allow, as he set down the next twenty batters he faced.
A two-out double by Tommy Holmes in the third inning scored Jim Russell to knot the game at one run apiece. Harlem ace Bucky Walters (21-7 during the regular season) kept Montgomery from taking the lead until the 7th, when Mark Christman and Oris Hockett scored on hits by Dizzy Trout and Snuffy Stirnweiss, respectively. The 3-1 score would stick.
Burns' reliever Mike Ryba came in to pitch the 8th, retiring the first two he faced to make it 22 Knights set down in order, broken up by pinch hitter Al Zarilla.
The Series will continue tomorrow, when Montgomery's Mort Cooper (18-5) goes up against the Knights' Ken Raffensberger (17-7).
10/5/1944, MON44-HAR44, Wrigley Field
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP
1944 Burns 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 3 10 0 6 0
1944 Knights 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 0 3 0
Burns AB R H BI AVG Knights AB R H BI AVG
Stirnweiss 2b 4 0 2 1 .500 Spence cf 4 1 1 0 .250
Russell rf 3 1 1 0 .333 WalkerD lf 4 0 1 0 .250
Holmes cf 4 0 1 1 .250 Etten 1b 4 0 1 1 .250
McCormick 1b 4 0 0 0 .000 Nicholson rf 4 0 0 0 .000
Litwhiler lf 3 0 0 0 .000 Kurowski 3b 3 0 0 0 .000
Kerr ss 2 0 0 0 .000 Bucher 2b 3 0 0 0 .000
Bergamo ph 1 0 0 0 .000 Camelli c 3 0 0 0 .000
Guerra c 1 0 0 0 .000 Newsome ss 2 0 0 0 .000
Christman 3b 4 1 2 0 .500 Zarilla ph 1 0 1 0 1.000
Owen c 2 0 1 0 .500 Mayo ss 0 0 0 0 .000
Hockett ph 0 1 0 0 .000 Walters p 2 0 0 0 .000
Busch ss 1 0 0 0 .000 Dallesndro ph 1 0 0 0 .000
Trout p 3 0 2 1 .667 Zoldak p 0 0 0 0 .000
Ryba p 1 0 1 0 1.000 31 1 4 1
33 3 10 3
Burns INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA
Trout W 1-0 7.0 2 1 1 0 5 90 61 1.29
Ryba S 1 2.0 2 0 0 0 0 30 18 0.00
9.0 4 1 1 0 5 120 79
Knights INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA
Walters L 0-1 8.0 9 3 3 3 3 108 70 3.38
Zoldak 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 11 6 0.00
9.0 10 3 3 3 3 119 76
MON: Bergamo batted for Kerr in the 7th
Hockett batted for Owen in the 7th
Guerra inserted at c in the 7th
Busch inserted at ss in the 7th
HAR: Zarilla batted for Newsome in the 8th
Dallesndro batted for Walters in the 8th
Mayo inserted at ss in the 9th
2B-Holmes, Owen, Etten. CS-Stirnweiss 2. K-Litwhiler, Owen, Trout,
Kurowski 2, Camelli 2, Walters. BB-Russell, Litwhiler, Hockett.
GWRBI: Trout
Temperature: 62, Sky: clear, Wind: left to right at 30 MPH.