Washington DC Baseball

[GeoPoto]

The Nats had regained home-field advantage, with Walter Johnson set to go the next day in the third and last game to be contested in New York. Concerned about Ralph Miller's two errors in two days and Bluege's miscue while playing out of position at short, Johnson himself approached Peckinpaugh and urged him to play. Peck assured him that he had no mobility at all and that he couldn't play, but Johnson felt that Peck would be of value if only because his presence in the lineup would allow Bluege to return to third. Peckinpaugh did not play, however.

Game five started off with a bang when lead-off hitter Earl McNeely bashed a rocket off the lefthander, Jack Bentley. The 18-year-old rookie third baseman, Fred Lindstrom, leapt and snared the missile -- a fantastic catch by all accounts. After Harris and Rice harmlessly made outs, Lindstrom, who was to hit .333 in this, his first World Series, led off in the bottom of the inning with a single to left off Walter Johnson. Barney recovered by first getting Frankie Frisch to foul out to third baseman Ralph Miller, who was starting his second consecutive game because of Peckinpaugh's injury. Miller had played partial seasons for the Phillies in '20 and '21, and the 1924 World Series would be his swan song. He logged only 26 official at-bats for the 1924 Washington Senators, and 11 of them came in the World Series.

The third-place hitter, Ross Youngs, flew out to McNeely in center field. Lindstrom then took off for second, but Muddy Ruel cut him down, ending the inning. After an uneventful second in which Goose Goslin's infield single was the only hit on either side, the dignified Walter Johnson approached the plate. Again he got an ovation -- many New York fans had stood when he took the mound at the start of the game. Eighty percent of New York, according to Grantland Rice, was rooting for this man.

The Big Train drove the ball all the way to the left field wall, but the locomotive broke down and fell as he was rounding first. Running was not Walter's forte, and it was often said that he ran as if he was still behind the plow back on the farm. Hack Wilson pegged the ball to Frisch at second, who then relayed to Terry to intercept the Big Train. Following the out, McNeely and Harris managed to get on, but were stranded. Johnson's difficulties intensified in the bottom of the inning when Travis Jackson, the good-hitting Bentley, and Lindstrom, all singled. And it certainly could have been worse. With still just one out, Sam Rice caught a liner in right field off the bat of Ross Youngs, and then threw the ball to Johnson. The pitcher's relay to the plate caught Bentley trying to score and put an end to the shenanigans.

The Senators, down 1-0, struck right back. Joe Judge banged a single off the right field wall behind Youngs and was sacrificed to second by Bluege. Judge took third when Muddy Ruel grounded to short, bringing up Ralph Miller, 1-for-7 in the Series so far. The harried Miller came through, singling along the right field foul line. He didn't stop at first, however, and he should have. But the score was now tied.

Opposing second basemen Frankie Frisch and Bucky Harris square off in the 1924 World Series:

https://www.net54baseball.com/attach...1&d=1679556339