The Playoff Gambler
Thomas Woodhull
Author Bio
I was born in 1948. I am a lifelong resident of west Michigan and attended Aquinas College and Western Michigan University. After becoming a CPA I spent the remainder of my career in private industry, primarily the food processing and plastic injection molding sectors. I hung up my green eye shade and put away my calculator in 2011 after 40 years as an accountant. I’m keeping my computer, but now the screen will always be filled with words—I hope (no such thing as “writer’s block” in accounting) —not numbers.
A big baseball fan (Go Tigers!), I also love to read. Westerns, Mysteries, and Fantasy Adventure are at the top of my list, but I have enjoyed books in almost all the different genres. My favorite authors are Louis L’Amour, William MacLeod Raine, J.K. Rowling, J.R.R. Tolkien, and Agatha Christie. My other interests include model railroading, collecting baseball cards, and taking long walks. During this last activity I like to try and develop my plot outlines.
In my profession free hours were a somewhat rare commodity. Now that I am no longer working full time I plan to put my ideas for stories that have been kept on the back burner onto paper—digitally of course.
Description
On September 23, 1908 one of the most famous and possibly most controversial baseball games of the Twentieth century was played between the New York Giants and the Chicago Cubs at the Polo Grounds in New York with the final score 2 to 1 in favor of the Giants—or so it seemed.
With two out in the ninth inning New York had left fielder Moose McCormick on third base and rookie first baseman Fred Merkle on first. Al Bridwell, the Giant shortstop, hit a single and McCormick came home with the winning run. Merkle, half way to second when the run scored, and with the spectators pouring on the field in celebration of the hard fought victory, turned and headed for the clubhouse to avoid the crowds—and therein lay the problem.
The rule stated that a base runner must advance to the next base even though the winning run has scored. Failure to do so would result in a force play if a player from the opposing team fielded the ball and touched the base. With two out this would mean the winning run would not count. In Merkle’s defense it was common practice to do just what he did, even among the veteran players around the league, the rule simply had never been enforced.
However, Johnny Evers, Cub second baseman and one of the smartest men in baseball knew the rule and finally managed to get a ball and touched second base. Base umpire Emslie had not seen Merkle’s failure to touch second base but home plate umpire Hank O’Day had seen it and called Merkle out.
The Chicago team filed a protest with the umpires that the game should be a tie and that night filed a protest, with National League President Harry Pulliam, saying they should win by forfeit because the crowd interfered with continuation of the game. This move inadvertently prevented the tie game from being played off the next day. The New York Giants also filed a protest that the game should be considered their victory because the rule had never been enforced.
National League President Harry Pulliam upheld the umpires and ruled the game a tie. The National League Board of Directors later sustained Pulliam’s decision and said the game must be replayed contingent on the Giants winning their final two games with Boston. The date selected was October 8, one day after the end of the regular season. As it turned out the Giants did win the two games and the playoff was necessary because the two teams tied for the League lead.
The Giants’ fans of course were violently upset and Chicago pitching ace Mordecai Brown, who most thought would be the starting pitcher, actually received several threats against his life if he should pitch and win the game.
It is within this setting our story takes place. It blends real occurrences from the scene of the playoff game with the activities of gamblers who made threats and how they attempted to carry them through at the Polo Grounds and on the train taking the Cubs back home.
Book excerpt
The squad room of the 32nd precinct was alive with its normal afternoon activity of shift changes, officers coming and going, filling out reports, and discussing the day’s events. A few open windows, letting in noises from the street below, along with a few strategically placed new fangled electric fans gave evidence of the reluctantly ending summer. A scene of diligent enterprise giving no indication of anything out of the ordinary until—
“We wuz robbed! We wuz robbed! Patrolman Archie Lewis stormed into the squad room that Thursday afternoon with angry words; and a scowl on a face as red as the unruly thatch under the cap he removed as he dropped his stocky frame down in the nearest chair.
“What’s the matter Arch? Who robbed you? Did you bring him in?” asked his fellow officers as they gathered round while Lewis slammed down a copy of the New York Tribune.
“No I did not! I wou’d a’ needed a paddy wagon to do that!”
“Why? How many people are you talkin’ about?” they asked, still wondering what would cause such anguish in the usually cheerful rookie patrolman.
“I don’t know how many exactly, but at least nine,” he said, pointing to the newspaper on the table that he had opened to the sports section. “The whole Chicago Cub team if possible and certainly Johnny Evers, their second baseman, at least.”
“The Giants won, why arrest the Cub players?” queried Officer Burke, a tall, slender, balding ten year veteran, with a twinkle in his eyes, who enjoyed nothing more than trading quips with the runty, freckle-faced Lewis.
“Read farther down the page, it says that the Cubs are protestin’ the game and claim it should be a tie because the Giants didn’t actually score the winnin’ run and the umpires are agreein’ with ‘em.”
“What happened?”
“It says here the Giants had McCormick on third and Merkle on first in the ninth innin’ with two out. Bridwell singled to left and McCormick came in with the winnin’ run. Why did Evers think he had a force play at second?”
“He claimed that according to the rule Merkle was s’posed to advance to the next base even if the winnin’ run had already scored and Merkle didn’t; he gets halfway and then scoots for the clubhouse to avoid the crowd. At least that’s what Evers and O’Day the ump claim.”
“I never heard of that rule, has it been around long?”
“That’s because you’re a Brooklyn fan, Burke, and yeah, it’s been around long enough, but till yesterday it was never enforced.”
The rest of the boys in the squad room were surprised at the news. Their reactions were not all as intense since less than half were Giant fans, the remainder being divided between the Brooklyn team and the New York American League team.
“It says here that a couple weeks ago the Cubs tried almost the same thing in Pittsburg and League President Harry Pulliam turned them down. Maybe the National League officials will overrule the umps and the Giants will get the win,” said another (non-Giant fan). “But don’t the Giants have plenty of games left in the season to catch the Cubs,” he added.
Author Website
Best place to buy your book
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=node%3D154606011&field-keywords=the+playoff+gambler