Roy Cullenbine's two-out home run in the ninth off of Harlem's Al Smith gave North Dallas a 12-11 victory in a thrilling see-saw Game 1 of the 1945 World Series.
The game had numerous lead changes as both teams slugged out 23 runs and 31 hits. Harlem started with four runs in the top of the first fram, and built a 5-1 lead after scoring in the third. The Forty struck back with 7 runs over the next two innings to take an 8-5 lead. The score remained that way until the seventh inning when Harlem knotted the game at 8 runs apiece, capped by a two-run single by Eddie Mayo, who knocked in 4 runs in the game.
Harlem took the lead briefly in the top of the 8th, but North Dallas stormed back with three in the bottom of the inning to take an 11-9 lead. Far from being down and out, the Knights tied the game up in the top of the ninth before Smith surrendered the Cullenbine home run in the 9th to seal away the victory.
10/5/1945, HAR45-NDA45, Polo Grounds
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP
1945 Knights 4 0 1 0 0 0 3 1 2 11 16 0 11 0
1945 Forty 1 0 3 4 0 0 0 3 1 12 15 1 5 1
Knights AB R H BI AVG Forty AB R H BI AVG
Walker cf 5 0 3 1 .600 Galan 3b 4 3 2 2 .500
Mayo 2b 6 1 4 4 .667 Lake ss 4 1 2 1 .500
Etten 1b 4 2 1 0 .250 Cavarretta 1b 5 2 3 5 .600
Kurowski 3b 6 1 0 0 .000 Heath lf 5 0 1 1 .200
Keller rf 4 1 1 1 .250 Estalella cf 5 0 2 0 .400
Greenberg lf 4 2 3 3 .750 Lombardi c 4 1 0 0 .000
Sandlock c 4 1 1 2 .250 Cullenbine rf 5 2 2 1 .400
Newsome ss 4 1 2 0 .500 Stanky 2b 3 1 1 0 .333
Nicholson ph 1 1 0 0 .000 Robinson ph 1 0 0 0 .000
Walters p 2 0 0 0 .000 Tobin p 0 0 0 0 .000
Orrell p 1 0 0 0 .000 Potter p 0 0 0 0 .000
Webber p 0 0 0 0 .000 Butcher p 1 1 1 0 1.000
Peck ph 1 0 0 0 .000 Byrnes ph 1 0 0 0 .000
Berry p 0 0 0 0 .000 Jakucki p 0 0 0 0 .000
Cuccinello ph 1 1 1 0 1.000 Leonard p 0 0 0 0 .000
Smith p 0 0 0 0 .000 Meyer ph 1 1 1 2 1.000
43 11 16 11 39 12 15 12
Knights INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA
Walters 3.2 7 6 6 1 1 69 43 14.73
Orrell 0.1 3 2 2 1 0 14 7 54.00
Webber 2.0 0 0 0 0 2 30 17 0.00
Berry 2.0 4 3 3 1 1 31 19 13.50
Smith L 0-1 0.2 1 1 1 0 0 10 6 13.50
8.2 15 12 12 3 4 154 92
Forty INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA
Potter 2.0 4 5 5 3 2 54 33 22.50
Butcher 4.0 5 0 0 2 0 71 43 0.00
Jakucki BS 1 0.2 4 3 3 1 0 24 11 40.50
Leonard 1.1 1 1 1 0 1 16 10 6.75
Tobin BS 1, W 1-0 1.0 2 2 0 0 0 15 12 0.00
9.0 16 11 9 6 3 180 109
HAR: Peck batted for Webber in the 7th
Nicholson batted for Newsome in the 9th
Cuccinello batted for Berry in the 9th
Nicholson moved to c in the 9th
Sandlock moved to ss in the 9th
NDA: Byrnes batted for Butcher in the 6th
Robinson batted for Stanky in the 8th
Meyer batted for Leonard in the 8th
Meyer moved to 2b in the 9th
E-Lake. 2B-Mayo, Etten, Greenberg 2, Sandlock, Galan 2, Cavarretta,
Estalella. 3B-Meyer. HR-Greenberg(1), Cavarretta(1), Cullenbine(1).
K-Kurowski, Newsome, Walters, Galan, Estalella, Byrnes, Robinson. BB-Walker,
Etten 2, Keller, Greenberg, Sandlock, Galan, Lake, Lombardi. SH-Butcher.
GWRBI: Cullenbine
Temperature: 57, Sky: clear, Wind: out to right at 17 MPH.