Good morning, and welcome to Day Three! I have a couple of choices to expound upon today, starting with trying to figure out what Tillman has on his hand. I guess it's a batting glove, but it looks more like he was doing rectal exams during BP. Or Paul Splittorff starting and winning the first ever game at Kaufmann Stadium for the Royals. Or Jim Kaat, who after doing a game this year as a broadcaster, logged an eighth decade in MLB. That's just crazy. He debuted in 1959, played in four decades, then has been announcing games ever since. But with all of that, I'll go with Tony Taylor, and one of the weirder plays in baseball lore. I love crazy plays, like that Javy Baez one a couple weeks ago, where the Pirates first baseman chased him all the way to the plate, allowing a run to score. I hadn't ever seen a first base coach wave a guy back towards home. Anyway, this is a good one, so let me give you the cast of characters:
Cubs:
Bob Anderson, P
Sammy Taylor, C
Tony Taylor, 2B
Ernie Banks, SS
Al Dark, 3B
Cardinals:
Stan Musial, Hitter
Plate Ump:
Vic Delmore
Field Announcer:
Pat Pieper
OK, Musial has a 3-1 count on him. Anderson's next pitch gets by Sammy Taylor, and goes to the backstop. Delmore calls ball four, and Musial heads to 1B. In the meantime, Anderson and S. Taylor are arguing with Delmore that Musial tipped it. No one has called time, so Musial heads for 2B. Dark sees him headed that way, and goes to grab the ball, but Pieper is holding it now. Dark snags it out of his hands, and throws it to Banks. At the same time, Dlemore gives S. Taylor a new ball. S. Taylor sees Musial breaking for 2B, so he wings the ball to Tony Taylor, but it sails over his head into the outfield. Musial sees the errant throw, and turns the corner for 3B, where Banks tags him out with the original ball. Musial is declared out on the play. I'm guessing replay wouldn't have helped on that one...
