The Pecan Park Eagle

The Yankee Clipper signs for fans. From May 15 through July 16 in 1941, Joe DiMaggio hit safely in 56 straight games at a .406 pace to establish a record, as most of you know, that still stands today.

DiMag Stopped, But Elmer Riddle Wins

________________________________

Smith, Bagby Snap  String at 56

INDIANS STOP JOE DIMAGGIO STREAK

_____________________________

By Charles P. McMahon

Cleveland O., July 18 (1941) (UP) – Three men stopped the great Joe DiMaggio last night in the presence of 67,468 persons conscious of being on-lookers while history was made.

The gangling youth with the long nose and snapping eyes was in the course of compiling of of baseball’s most remarkable records. He had hit safely in 56 consecutive games, surpassing a record so good it had stood for 44 years.

Wee Willie Keeler, its compiler, had hit safely in 43 (years later corrected to 44) games. But Ty Cobb, George Sisler, Tris Speaker, Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig – all in that succession of immortals that came after – hadn’t been able to touch his record until DiMaggio came along.

Out for 57th

Now, under the harsh white lights bathing the playing field at Cleveland stadium, he was out to hit in his 57th game and most of the thousands in the stands where there to watch  him do it, believing that no could stop him, certainly not the  aging pitcher who had never amounted to much anyway, the Cleveland Indians had put on the mound against his New York Yankees.

But pitcher Al Smith had confidence in himself. This David pitted against Goliath had been a National League cast-off only two years ago and his entire career had been one of half successes mingled with failures. Tonight he had been given the chance of  stopping the hitter that no other pitcher in the American League, including his teammate, Bobby Feller, had been able to stop.

“Robbed” by Keltner

First inning, DiMaggio up. A fast ball, high and outside. DiMaggio let it go for a ball. Then a curve, breaking low over the outside corner. The superb supple body of DiMaggio swung, bat met ball with solid  impact,and the ball hurtled into the infield at such a velocity that it was a blurred streak to the onlookers. The crowd’s roar was cut short, for Third Baseman Ken Keltner stabbed it backhanded and flung it to first. He was the first of the three men who were to stop DiMaggio.

Fourth inning, DiMaggio up. A fast ball, low and outside. Ball one. A fast ball over the outside corner. DiMaggio let it go by and the umpire cried, “Strike!” A few boos from the stands. A curve, breaking inside. Ball two. A fast ball, outside. Ball three. A curve, breaking over the outside corner. DiMaggio took a terrific swing, missed, and the crowd roared. Strike two. A fastball. He swung, fouled. Old Al Smith was trying hard. His next, a curve, broke inside, and DiMaggio walked.

Hits to Keltner again

Seventh inning, DiMaggio up. The first pitch was a waist high curve and DiMaggio whacked it to Keltner who threw him out.

The other Yanks fell on Smith in the next inning and he was taken out, but  he was the second of the three (Indians) who stopped DiMaggio.

Eighth inning, DiMaggio up. Out there on the mound was Jim Bagby, Jr., son of the great pitcher who pitched Cleveland to a pennant in 1920, a tall youth who had never been any great shakes. He had put three men on base and here he was pitching to the great DiMaggio with the bases loaded.

Fastball, outside. Ball one. Fastball, inside. DiMaggio fouled it. A curve, breaking wide. Ball two. A fastball and DiMaggio swung. It was a pathetically weak grounder which Shortstop Boudreau grabbed and snapped to the second baseman, starting a double play.

Takes it good naturedly

He (Bagby) was the third of the three (Indians) who stopped DiMaggio.

The Yankees won the ball game, nevertheless, 4 to 3.

DiMaggio took it in good grace.

“The streak doesn’t mean a thing,” he said. “That seven game lead we took over the Indians means more.But that Keltner certainly robbed me of one hit. That boy can field them.

“I do feel relieved, however, now that it’s all over.”

“I admit that I’ve been under a strain, even after the records were broken. But that’s gone now. And I’ll be out there now, still trying to get my base hits to win games. That’s all that has counted, anyway.”

~ Charles P. McMahon, United Press, Moorhead (MN) Daily News, July 18, 1941, Page 5.

Baseball Almanac Box ScoresNew York Yankees 4, Cleveland Indians 3
Game played on Thursday, July 17, 1941 at Cleveland Stadium
New York Yankees ab   r   h rbi Sturm 1b 4 0 1 0 Rolfe 3b 4 1 2 1 Henrich rf 3 0 1 1 DiMaggio cf 3 0 0 0 Gordon 2b 4 1 2 1 Rosar c 4 0 0 0 Keller lf 3 1 1 0 Rizzuto ss 4 0 0 0 Gomez p 4 1 1 1   Murphy p 0 0 0 0 Totals 33 4 8 4	Cleveland Indians ab   r   h rbi Weatherly cf 5 0 1 0 Keltner 3b 3 0 1 0 Boudreau ss 3 0 0 0 Heath rf 4 0 0 0 Walker lf 3 2 2 1 Grimes 1b 3 1 1 0 Mack 2b 3 0 0 0   Rosenthal ph 1 0 1 2 Hemsley c 3 0 1 0   Trosky ph 1 0 0 0 Smith p 3 0 0 0   Bagby p 0 0 0 0   Campbell ph 1 0 0 0 Totals 33 3 7 3
New York 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 – 4 8 0 Cleveland 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 – 3 7 0   New York Yankees IP H R ER BB SO Gomez  W(8-3) 8.0 6 3 3 3 5   Murphy  SV(7) 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 Totals 9.0 7 3 3 3 5   Cleveland Indians IP H R ER BB SO Smith  L(6-6) 7.1 7 4 4 2 4   Bagby 1.2 1 0 0 1 1 Totals 9.0 8 4 4 3 5 E–None.  DP–Cleveland 1. Boudreau-Mack-Grimes.  PB–Hemsley (3).  2B–New York Rolfe (13); Henrich (10).  3B–New York Keller (7), Cleveland Rosenthal (1).  HR–New York Gordon (15,7th inning off Smith 0 on), Cleveland Walker (4,4th inning off Gomez 0 on).  Team LOB–5.  SH–Boudreau (8).  Team–7.  U–Bill Summers, Joe Rue, Ernie Stewart.  T–2:03.  A–67,463.
Game played on Thursday, July 17, 1941 at Cleveland Stadium
Baseball Almanac Box Score |

Tags: The 56-Game Hitting Sreak

This entry was posted on September 2, 2014 at 2:23 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.