Washington DC Baseball

[GeoPoto]

If there had been some interesting developments in the first inning of several of the games so far, they were nothing compared to the high jinks devised by Bucky Harris as the clincher got under way. Harris called upon Curly Ogden as his starting pitcher. This was the same Curly Ogden who had bombed with the A's earlier in the season and who had started 17 times for Washington in 1924. Curly Ogden of the perennially sore arm. Ogden struck out the pesky Fred Lindstrom and then walked Frank Frisch. His next move was to walk to the dugout, never to reappear.

Harris had hatched a plan which he'd revealed to Clark Griffith that morning. Going with the righthanded Ogden would incite John McGraw to start the rookie, Bill Terry, who, despite batting only 163 times during the season, was murdering Harris's pitchers. Terry had 6 hits in 12 at-bats, including a triple and a homer so far. McGraw generally only deployed the lefthanded-hitting Terry against righthanders.

Bucky Harris reasoned that in the first inning, he would lift Ogden and bring in lefty George Mogridge. Harris wasn't worried about Terry hitting Mogridge. If McGraw made more changes, like hopefully lifting Terry from the game, Harris would go to a righthander again -- probably Firpo Marberry. Griffith gave Harris his okay for the plan, and when the manager left, Griff telephoned Walter Johnson and told him to be ready -- he just might be coming in for late relief in the biggest game of his life.

Everything went according to plan, or just about, as the game got underway on the most beautiful day of the entire Series, the whole of which was played this year in particularly pleasant conditions. Ogden had been expected to pitch to the lead-off batter, Lindstrom, only, but when he got the rookie on three pitches, Harris motioned for Ogden to stay in. Maybe Curly's dead limb could bounce back for one more act of heroism, although it had given no indication of late. Ogden walked the next man, Frank Frisch, and the strategy was then implemented.

With the lefthanded Ross Youngs batting third and due up, Mogridge was summoned. He's been warming up out of view, under the stands. Mogridge struck Youngs out, and got Kelly to ground out harmlessly to Tommy Taylor at third, who was playing in what would turn out to be, simultaneously, his first World Series start and last major-league game. Two of the rookie's 75 official at-bats took place in the World Series.

Washington's 1924 "brain trust" -- the Old Fox and the Boy Wonder:

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