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Posted By: Gilbert Maines

From the Elysian Fields Quarterly:


Bucky and the Big Train
By Bruce Markusen and Ron Visco


Earl McNeely then hit a solid grounder toward Lindstrom at third, a tailor-made double-play ball. For the second time in the inning, fate took a hand. "Whatever McNeely's ground ball hit, a pebble or a divot or a minefield, it took a freak high hop over Lindstrom's head into the outfield," wrote Shirley Povich. Left fielder Irish Meusel, anticipating that Lindstrom would field the grounder, got a late start getting to the ball. Incredibly, when he did reach it, he made no throw but put it in his glove and ran off the field as Ruel, the slowest man on the Senators, rounded third and steamed toward home. With Johnson standing on second base, Ruel scored the winning run. Washington and Walter Johnson had taken the victory 4–3 in twelve innings, and with it the world's