A Weird Double Header

By David Marasco

Many strange and wonderful things happened in the world of baseball in the summer of 1951. One very rare event took place in St. Louis. The New York Giants were chasing the Dodgers, but on the night of September 12 all they were doing was watching the rain fall from the sky. When the game was called it presented a real problem. That was the last game to be played between the two squads that year, and they way that the pennant race was shaping up it looked as if every game would count. While the Giants had an off day on the 13th, the Cardinals had a night game against the Boston Braves. With the approval of National League President Ford Frick, the three teams agreed to play a day-night double header. The Cardinals would play the Giants in the afternoon and the Braves at night.

The Giants sent Sal Maglie to the mound. He had won his past five starts to become the league's first twenty-game winner. He posed no problem for the Red Birds. In the second he would give up a pair of walks and then a pair of singles. After a sacrifice he gave up an infield hit and that pushed the bulge to 3-0. The Giants sent the Barber to the showers. Monte Kennedy came in to pitch for the Giants, but did not fare much better. By the time New York was able to stop the bleeding they were behind 6-0. Monte Irvin's triple and two-run homer would help put four runs on the board, and the Giants would even get the tying run on the bases in the eighth. However, it was not to be and 4160 St. Louis fans would go home happy with a 6-4 victory. The loss dropped the Giants six games behind the idle Dodgers. That evening they would purchase the contracts of several minor leaguers. Among them would be Hoyt Wilhelm, who wouldn't crack the bigs until the next year.

Warren Spahn proved to be a much tougher nut for the Cardinals to crack. He walked only one man, and the sixth inning single he gave up to the opposing pitcher was the only hit. The game only took 1:48 and the 4705 faithful saw the Braves take the contest 2-0. With the victory Spahn joined Maglie as a twenty-game winner.

Interestingly enough, the Giants in a way had taken part in the last occurrence of a team playing two different opponents on one day. In 1883 baseball was a very different beast. For starters, the mound was still fifty feet away. The pitcher was allowed to throw side-arm, but not overhand. Seven balls were needed for a walk, but only three for the strikeout. The two major leagues were the National League that still exists today and the old American Association. The owner of the New York Gothams (later Giants) also owned the New York franchise in the AA, the New York Mets. On the morning of May 30 the Cincinnati Red Stockings played a morning game in the Polo Grounds and lost to the Mets 1-0. Cincinnati went to Philadelphia the same day and lost an afternoon game. Eventually the owner of the New York teams saw the writing on the wall and folded the Mets into the Giants, transferring all of the good players into the Giants.