October 9
Tom Zachary
1924 World Series
NY Giants at Washington, Game 6
Senators 2 Giants 1
Series tied 3-3
Nearly 5,000 fans greet the downcast Senators upon their arrival home at the train station following yesterday’s loss. 34,254 click the turnstiles for game 6 in Griffith, including Calvin Coolidge and his wife Grace. While “Silent” Cal couldn’t care less about baseball, the First Lady loves the game and adores the Senators. Bucky Harris hopes Tom Zachary is the Nats saving grace for this contest. John McGraw enlists game one winner, Art Nehf, to sew up the world title for New York.
Zachary gets off to a rocky start in the 1st. After retiring leadoff hitter Fred Lindstrom, Frank Frisch doubles down the line in right. The three hole batter, Ross Youngs, hits a dribbler back to Zachary, who catches an over aggressive Frisch trying for third. Frisch is tagged out in the ensuing rundown, with Youngs taking second on the play. The partisan crowd falls quiet when George Kelly singles to score Youngs to put the Giants in front, 1-0. RF Sam Rice bails Zachary out by making a nice running grab of an Irish Meusel liner to close the inning.
Washington, in their half of the 1st, manage to get four baserunners on base without scoring. Harris is the main culprit by getting picked off at first by Nehf. In the 5th, the returning Roger Peckinpaugh, his left thigh bandaged, touches Nehf for a leadoff single. Peckinpaugh proceeds to third, via the anticipated sacrifice bunt and a groundout. Earl McNeely draws a base on balls and immediately steals second to put runners into scoring position. Bucky Harris redeems himself with 2-run single to right to move the Nats on top, 2-1. Presumably, the First Lady joins the crowd in the excitement, while “Silent” Cal remains mute and politely applauds as though he was at an opera.
After his shaky 1st, Zachary finds his groove. From the 2nd inning on, the Giants net only 5 hits and only one New York runner reaches second base. Zachary issues no walks and fans 3. When Hack Wilson strikes out in the 9th, the Senators pocket the 2-1 win and a game 7 date set for tomorrow.
1925 World Series
Game 3 in Washington is postponed due to rain.
More Nat news from today:
1970 Upon hearing of the news, Senator fans probably thought it was a joke. Who would trade the entire left side of their infield and two starting pitchers for a previously suspended pitcher with a 3-5 mark and a 4.63 ERA, a 3B with a bad back, a prospect and a guy who will never play in the big leagues again? Come on, name one person who would do that trade? Why, Bob Short, of course.
Short gift wraps fan favorite SS Ed Brinkman, 3B Aureilo Rodriguez, P Joe Coleman and P Jim Hannan to Detroit for 3B Don Wert, OF prospect Elliott Maddox, minor league P Norm McRae and, the big fish, the infamous Denny McLain. Short expects the former 31 game winner to be a box office smash at RFK. Instead, McLain would bomb miserably, losing 22 in 1971 for Washington. Wert, with a bad back, would get 2 hits in 40 AB in a Senator uniform before being released in June of 1971. Maddox would carve out a 10 year career as a reserve, while McRae would never appear on the Senators roster. Hands down, the worst trade in the 71 year history of the Senators.
Senators Birthdays
Harry Lee Biemiller B Oct. 9, 1897 D May 25, 1965
Another Senators Short Timer, Harry Biemiller would debut with the Senators in late August of 1920. Playing in 5 games, Biemiller would post a record of 1-0, pitching in 17 innings, giving up 21 hits, 13 walks and 13 runs, 9 of which were earned. Biemiller would depart the Senators with an ERA of 4.76.
Biemiller would resurface in the majors 5 years later with the 1925 Cincinnati Reds. Appearing in 23 games, he’d post an 0-1 record with a 4.02 ERA.
Milton Arnold (Mickey) Haefner B Oct. 9, 1912 D Jan. 3, 1995
30 year old rookie Mickey Haefner made his debut with the 1943 Washington Senators. Pitching in 36 games, Haefner would post an 11-5 record with a 2.29 ERA. Never able to match the success of his rookie year, Haefner would have some decent seasons in Washington with some mediocre teams, including going 16-14 in 1945 and 14-11 in 1946.
After 19 games with Washington in the 1949 season, where he’d go 5-5, Haefner would be purchased by the Chicago White Sox in mid-July.
Finishing the 1949 season going 4-6 for Chicago, Haefner would return with the White Sox in 1950. He’d post a 1-6 record in 24 games with a 5.73 ERA before being purchased by the Boston Braves. Haefner would finish the season in a Braves uniform, going 0-2 in 8 games. His major league career ended with the close of the 1950 season.
