Sep 21

This Day in D.C. Baseball History – Senators’ Clinch AL Pennant

September 21, 1933

The Washington Senators’ behind the pitching of Lefty Stewart beat the St. Louis Browns 2-1 to clinch the American League Pennant. The pennant was the first for the Senators since they won the 1925 American League Pennant.

The play of the game came occurred with the Browns at bat in the top of the 9th inning. With two outs, the Browns had the tying run on base when Oscar Melillo hit a deep fly ball to left-field, Senators’ outfielder Heinie Manush made a diving one-handed catch, for the third out.

In a season where the Yankees were picked to win the AL Pennant, the surprising Senators clinched the pennant with over a week left in the regular season. The New York Giants beat out the Pittsburgh Pirates by 5 games to win the National League Pennant

With the Senators leading the majors in team average (.287), hits (1,586), and triples (86) against the Giants who led the majors in team ERA (2.71), fewest hits allowed (1,280), and shutouts (23) meant you would have a classic series between a great hitting team against a great pitching team.

When it was all said and done the Giants’ pitching shut down the Senators’ batters and won the ’33 World Series 4 games to 1.

Washington Senators 2, St. Louis Browns 1

Day

Game Played on Thursday, September 21, 1933 (D) at Griffith Stadium

STL A    0  0  0    0  0  0    1  0  0  -   1  7  0
WAS A    0  1  0    0  0  0    1  0  x  -   2  6  0
BATTING
St. Louis Browns             AB R H RBI BB SO PO A
Scharein 3b                   4   0   1   0       0   1       4   2
West cf                       3   0   0   0       0   0       2   0
Reynolds lf                   4   0   1   0       0   0       1   0
Campbell rf                   3   1   0   0       1   0       2   0
Melillo 2b                    4   0   1   1       0   0       2   5
Gullic 1b                     3   0   1   0       0   1       8   0
Shea c                        1   0   1   0       1   0       5   2
Levey ss                      3   0   1   0       0   0       0   2
Hadley p                      2   0   1   0       0   0       0   1
  Hemsley ph                  1   0   0   0       0   1       0   0
  Knott p                     0   0   0   0       0   0       0   0
Totals                       28   1   7   1       2   3      24  12
BATTING - 
2B: Melillo (23).
SH: West (5); Shea (3).
Team LOB: 4.
Washington Senators          AB R H RBI BB SO PO A
Myer 2b                       4   0   0   0       0   1       3   5
Goslin rf                     4   0   0   0       0   0       2   1
  Rice rf                     0   0   0   0       0   0       0   0
Manush lf                     4   0   0   0       0   0       1   0
Cronin ss                     3   0   1   0       1   1       4   3
Schulte cf                    3   1   2   0       0   0       1   0
Kuhel 1b                      3   1   2   0       0   0       9   0
Boken 3b                      2   0   0   1       1   1       3   2
  Bluege 3b                   0   0   0   0       0   0       0   0
Sewell c                      3   0   1   1       0   0       4   0
Stewart p                     3   0   0   0       0   0       0   1
Totals                       29   2   6   2       2   3      27  12
FIELDING - 
DP: 4. Myer-Cronin, Goslin-Cronin, Cronin-Myer-Kuhel, Myer-Cronin-Kuhel.
BATTING - 
2B: Cronin (44); Sewell (28).
Team LOB: 5.
BASERUNNING - 
SB: Schulte (10).
PITCHING
St. Louis Browns             IP H R ER BB SO HR BFP
Hadley L(15-19)               7     5   2   2   2   3   0  28
Knott                         1     1   0   0   0   0   0   3
Totals                        8     6   2   2   2   3   0  31
Washington Senators          IP H R ER BB SO HR BFP
Stewart W(15-6)               9     7   1   1   2   3   0  32
Umpires: HP - Bill Dinneen, 1B - Red Ormsby
Time of Game: 1:47
The information used here was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted by
Retrosheet. Interested parties may contact Retrosheet at "www.retrosheet.org".

 

Mark Hornbaker