BBR: Fun With Box Scores aka Don't Get Me Started

[clydepepper]

Having recently posted something about my cousin, Whitlow Wyatt, which prompted an inquiry about stories he may have had about Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, etc...I dove into Baseball Research's treasure trove of individual game history.

Here's some of what I found:


Whit gave up two homers to Babe and two to Lou.

On September 12, 1930, pitching for the Tigers, he gave up Babe's 46th homer of the year, which was his 562nd career launch (I refuse to call a homer that long ago a 'dinger') and on July 15, 1933, he served up #23 for the year and 675 for Babe's career.



On Jul14, 1935, hurling for the White Sox, he 'permitted' Gehrig's 14th homer for the season, which was his 357th career-wise. Then in top of the 15th inning on August 26th of that same year, he 'allowed' #25 for the year, 373 lifetime.

Luke 'Aches and Pains' Appling scored the tying run in the bottom of the 15th and Zeke Bonura stole home to win it. Whit got the 'W'.



Another game that Whitlow pitched that caught my eye was on May 18th, 1931. He relieved Earl Whitehead in the 4th inning, gave up one run, then held the Yankees scoreless thru the seventh. The wheels came off in the 8th in which he gave up 7 more runs.

The Yankees won this game 20-to-8, but the Bengal Cats sure helped with 15 walks (5 by Whit) and 5 errors.

Another fascinating tidbit from this game is who relieved Whitlow - none other than one Mark Koenig, starting shortstop for Murder's Row - Koenig fair no better than Whit.


So, then, I had to check out Mr. Koenig's page:

He was 4-for-32 in the '26 series; 9-for-18 in the '27 series; 3-for-19 in the '28 series. Before the consecutive 4-game sweeps in '27 & '28, Ole' Peter saved the series for the Cards, but the series actually ended when one George Herman Ruth unsuccessfully tried to steal second base.


That was lots of fun!


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