The Pitch That Killed by Mike Sowell

Author:Mike Sowell [Sowell, Mike]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781938545726
Google: lWkqtAEACAAJ
Publisher: Smashwords Edition
Published: 2015-11-15T23:21:26.424953+00:00

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The Indians’ collapse had raised the specter of past failures. Their once-commanding lead in the race had evaporated within a matter of days, and now both the White Sox and Yankees were just one-half game back in the standings. Worse, the collapse had occurred in Cleveland’s own ballpark.

Speaker knew there was little time to dwell on what went wrong. In just three days, the Indians and Yankees would meet again, this time in New York. It loomed as the most important series of the season, and the Cleveland manager felt it was imperative to have his best pitchers ready to throw. That meant he would have to rest Coveleskie, Bagby, and Caldwell over the weekend.

It was a dangerous gamble, especially after the Indians lost to the Browns 5–3 on Saturday to extend their losing streak to five games. The Tribe was desperate for a victory Sunday, and Speaker was forced to give untested rookie Bob Clark his first major-league start.

Clark was a giant of a man, six foot four and two hundred pounds with huge legs. He had started his career as a first baseman, but in 1919 the Lowell, Massachusetts, team in the New England League came up short a pitcher and Clark was pressed into service. He responded with a shutout, and from that day on was a pitcher.

The league folded in late July, so Clark went down to Boston for a tryout. The Indians were in town that day, and Speaker liked what he saw of the big pitcher. Clark was invited to Cleveland’s spring camp in 1920, and his fastball and hustle earned him a spot on the team. The Indians also were intrigued by his underhand motion, which was a dead ringer for Mays’s style, only from the opposite side.

A cheerful fellow, Clark spent most of the season as a batting practice pitcher. Despite Clark’s limited experience, Speaker was sending him out to face one of the hardest-hitting teams in the league. To boost the rookie’s confidence, Speaker told him, “You have as much stuff as any pitcher on my staff. I don’t feel as if I’m experimenting.”

Clark came through brilliantly, throwing a four-hitter for a 5–0 victory. The big blow for the Indians was provided by Johnston. With two men on base in the eighth inning, he hit a drive that rolled all the way to the scoreboard in center field. He never slowed down rounding the bases, and slid home ahead of the relay throw for an inside-the-park homer. Chapman was the first player off the bench to rush out and hug Johnston.

That same afternoon, the White Sox beat the Tigers 10–3 while the Yankees lost to the Senators 6–4. The day ended with Cleveland four percentage points ahead of Chicago, with New York only one-half game and ten percentage points back in third place.

* * *

Late that afternoon, an automobile pulled up in front of a partially constructed house on Alvason Road in East Cleveland. The four occupants got out noisily, laughing and talking excitedly as they paused on the lawn to survey the structure.

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