1945 World Series - Chicago Cubs Vs. Detroit Tigers

Yes, a victory series it is indeed, and here in Detroit, where so many of the tools of victory were turned out, it's in the air. All Detroit wants another kind of victory today. They're out to see the Detroit Tigers, their favorite ball team, battle the Chicago Cubs in this 42nd World Series. Let's go inside. A crowd of well over 54,000 is on hand to see this colorful opening game of the 1945 baseball classic. Briggs Stadium, like Wrigley Field in Chicago, is one of the finest ballparks in the country. It's packed with loyal fans. Over one million strong during the past season, right down to the last day when the pennant was won. It was the bat of Hank Greenberg, recently released from the Army, whose ninth inning home run decided the pennant. The Tigers took the lead on June 12th and held it right up to the close of the season. The Chicago Cubs took the lead on July the 11th and grabbed their flag in a game with the Pirates a day before the season ended. For the Tigers, Cal Neuhauser has been one of the mainstays in the pennant drive, winning 25 while losing only 9. And here's Eddie Mayo, a valuable Tiger player who has won a warm spot in the hearts of Detroit fans. Roy Cullenbein has been right in there too, driving in 92 runs this season, including 18 home runs. And here are some of the Cubs who sparked their pennant drive. Joe Cabaretta, first baseman, led the National League this year, hitting 355. Another Cub 300 hitter, Andy Pascoe, led his team in the all-important runs batted in column with 111 to his credit. Stan Hackfield's right at home, tuning up for his fourth World Series, all with the Cubs. His dependable hitting is one of the Cubs' trump cards. Well, it won't be long now before this first game gets underway, so let's take a quick look around and see who's here. Fans, there's Walter O. Briggs, owner of the Detroit Tigers, and his son, Spike Briggs, looking pretty enthusiastic about the Tigers' chances. And right over there, well, it just wouldn't be a World Series without him, is the grand old man of baseball, Connie Mack, talking things over with William Herridge, president of the American League. Senator Chandler is on hand for his first series as the new commissioner of baseball. And here are the men who steered these teams to a championship, Steve O'Neill and Charlie Grimm. In 1944, Steve just missed the American League pennant by a single game, but here he is back stronger than ever with one flag tucked away and his eye on the World Championship. Charlie Grimm, the likable Cubs manager, piloted his team to a National League pennant as far back as 1932. He's been the Cubs manager many years and has never finished in the second division. The two starting pitchers in this important first game, Hank Ferroi for the Cubs and Hal Neuhauser for the Tigers. While the pitchers are getting ready, let's have a look at the lineups for today's game. For the Cubs, Stanley Hack, third base, John Johnson, second base, Peanuts Lowry, left field, Bill Cabaretta, first base, Andy Papko, center field, Bill Nicholson, right field, Mickey Livingston, catcher, Roy Hughes, shortstop, and Hank Ferroi, pitching. For the Tigers, Skeeter Webb, shortstop, Eddie Mayo, second base, Roger Kramer, center field, Hank Greenberg, left field, Roy Cullenbein, right field, Rudy York, first base, Jimmy Outlaw, third base, Paul Richards, catching, and Hal Neuhauser, pitching. And the big moment we've been waiting for is at hand. The managers and umpires talk over the ground rule. The 1945 World Series is on. Play ball, the umpire says, and Stan Hack steps into the batter's box. Hal Neuhauser is on the mound getting his sign. Here's the pitch, and Hack slashes a grounder to Outlaw at third. He's out at first. Johnson follows with an infield hit back of second base. Then taking a good lead, Johnson breaks for second on the pitch, and he's safe. After Lowry flied to Kramer, Cabaretta beat out a slow roller to Mayo at second, Johnson going to third on the play. Then on a pass ball, Johnson scores, and Cabaretta takes second. The Cubs start the fireworks with one run home. Papko was purposely passed, and big Bill Nicholson steps up to the plate. He swings and lifts a long fly to right center, 370 feet from home plate. Roy Cullenbein backs up near the wall, but the ball gets away from him, and Nicholson comes into third with a triple to his credit. Both Cabaretta and Papko score, giving the Cubs a 3-0 lead. Mickey Livingston singles sharply to center, scoring Nicholson for the fourth run of the inning, with the World Series barely underway. In the Cubs' third, Johnson lined a double to right center. And after Lowry sacrificed him to third, Cabaretta hit one into center field for a base hit, scoring Johnson with run number five. Andy Papko followed with a line drive double to left center, scoring Cabaretta. After Nicholson popped to Mayo for the second out, Livingston singled to center, scoring Papko. That put the Cubs in the lead, 7-0, and that was all for Neuhauser. Al Benton came into pitch for the Tigers. Livingston was out stealing, ending the inning, and giving the Tigers a breather. Going into the last half of the fifth, Mayo singles sharply to left. Now the crowd is really on its feet, with a Tiger rally finally shaping up. After Kramer was out, Greenberg lined a single to right center. But when Mayo tried for third, he was out on a great throw from Papko to hat. And that killed the Tigers' scoring chances in this inning. The Cubs added two more runs in the seventh to make the score 9-0. With two men on in the Tiger night, pinch hitter McHale flies to Papko to end the first game of the 1945 World Series with a one-sided victory for the Chicago Cubs, who hit when they had men on the base. That was the story of their 9-0 victory in today's World Series Open. ♪♪ There's another set-off crowd here today pulling for the Tigers in the second game. The starting pitchers are Henry Wise for the Cubs and Virgil Trucks for the Tigers. And we're all ready to go. Going into the Cub fourth with one out, Phil Cabaretta pumped a double to right center field. After Papko was retired, Nicholson singled a right center scoring Cabaretta, and the Cubs lead one to nothing. The Tigers were held scoreless until the fifth inning, when after two outs, Webb rammed a base hit to left field. Mayo walked. And when Kramer singled to left, Webb scored, and Mayo pulled up at third. This tied the count at one apiece. The slugging Hank Greenberg is the next batter, and the pitcher Wise eyes him carefully. He gets a signal. Here comes the pitch, and there it goes. A long smash deep into the left center field stands, clearing the high screen 400 feet from the plate for a tremendous home run. Greenberg scores behind Mayo and Kramer, putting the Tigers in front four to one. And here is the finished form of that Greenberg home run swing. There was no further scoring in the ball game. And when pinch batter Heinz Becker struck out in the Cub night, the old ball game was in the bag for the Tigers by a score of four to one, leaving the series at one game each. For the final game at Briggs Stadium, Stubby Obermeyer is manager O'Neill's choice for the third game, with Richards as his battery mate. For the Cubs, it's Claude Passau, a 17-game winner this season. Here are York, Greenberg, and Columbine, the power hitters of the Detroit Tigers. Now with the game underway, York lined a single to left in the Tigers' second, but was left stranded on first. It was fairly close game until the fourth inning, when Lowry opened with a double against the left field wall, and the Cubs were on their way again. Cabaretta advanced into third with a neat sacrifice. And when Pafko walked, Obermeyer and the Tigers were in real trouble. Stubb went to work in earnest. A big Bill Nicholson poked one over short. And Lowry scored, Pafko stopping at second. After Livingston flied out to Kramer, Hughes followed with a base hit to right, scoring Pafko, and the Cubs lead the Tigers two to nothing. With Benton pitching, the Cubs came to life again in their half of the seventh. Livingston doubled off the right field screen, and Hughes funded him to third in scoring position. The Cubs pitcher, Claude Passau, followed with a long fly ball to Kramer in center. Livingston tagging up and scoring after the catch to put the Cubs in front, three to nothing. Here in the last half of the ninth, in the Tigers' final stand, Passau really applied the handcuffs, getting Richards to foul out to Cabaretta. Then Hostetler batted for Benton and was out short to first. McHale batting for Webb, popped to Livingston, ending the game, and putting the Cubs up on the Tigers two games to one. In one of the most brilliant pitching performances in World Series history, the Cubs' Claude Passau defeated the Tigers three to nothing before a crowd of 55,500 spectators with a one-hit performance that was equaled only once before in World Series play. Rudy York made the only base hit off the pitching of Passau. Here is manager Charlie Grimm with his two winning pitchers, feeling pretty good about it all. But before we leave Briggs Stadium, let's look at some of the American League players recently released from the armed forces. Here's the slugging Yankee outfielder Charlie Keller, back again with the swing that made him famous. Luke Appling, shortstop of the Chicago White Sox. Bob Fuller, pitching ace of the Cleveland Indians, a headache for any big league batter. Buddy Lewis of the Washington Senators. Sam Chapman, outfielder of the Philadelphia Athletics. And young Dave Ferris of the Boston Red Sox, a 21-game winner his first year, recently released from the Army Air Forces. These and many others will be back with us again next year. And now, it's on to Chicago. And now we take you to beautiful Wrigley Field, the home of the Chicago Cubs. Let's go inside and look around. The large double-deck seating arrangement affords a fine view of action all over the field here in Chicago. Owner Wrigley is justly proud of this ballpark. In the centerfield bleachers, an area has been reserved for 200 patients from the Army's Vaughan Hospital in Chicago. A capacity crowd turned out to welcome the Cubs back to Wrigley Field. They're going to see Paul Dizzy Trout of the Tigers start against their Cubs. Trout shows some of his favorite grips on the Spalding National League ball, which together with the Reach Official American League ball, have been used in all World Series play. And over here we have Southpaw Roy Prim getting set to go into action for the Cubs. The last-minute conference is on between the managers and umpires about ground rules at Wrigley Field, and we're ready to go. There was no scoring until the Tiger half of the fourth inning, when after Skeeter Webb had been retired, Mayo drew Prim's only pass. Kramer then lined up the first Tiger hit. Hank Greenberg slashed a single to left, scoring Mayo with the first run of the game. Prim worked carefully now, but Cullenbine whizzed a double just inside the left field foul line, scoring Kramer, Greenberg being held up at third. At this point, manager Grimm removes Prim, replacing him with the veteran right-hander Paul Derringer, with the Tigers leading two to nothing. Derringer now proceeds to give York an intentional pass, loading the bases. Jimmy Outlaw then forced York at second, Greenberg scoring on the play. Catcher Paul Richards singled a center field for his first hit of the series, scoring Cullenbine and putting the Tigers in front by a score of four to nothing. John Johnson let off the Cubs' sixth with a booming triple to the far right field corner. Lowry grounded to third base, and Johnson apparently was cracked. However, Outlaw threw to first, retiring Lowry. On the return, York's throw got away, Johnson scoring the Cubs' first run. At the end of the sixth, it was Tigers four, Cubs one. With six strikeouts and a five-hit game to his credit going into the ninth, Trout was working in masterful fashion. Cabaret aligned to Kramer in center field for the first out. Half go was an easy out, third to first. And when Nicholson fouled out to Richards, the catcher, the Detroit Tigers were victors in game number four by a score of four to one. Trout was the winning pitcher and Krim the loser. This evened up the series at two games each. And into the record book goes the story of another well-pitched World Series game. For the fifth game at Wrigley Field, it was Berowy starting for the Cubs and Hal Neuhauser for the Tigers. With the score tied at one run apiece going into the sixth inning, Kramer first man up for the Tigers, single to center field. When Pascoe fumbled the ball, he put second. Greenberg then lined a double into left field, scoring Kramer. And the Cub bullpen suddenly became an active spot. Cullenbein beat out a hit to Cabaretta, advancing Greenberg to third. And when Rudy York followed with a safe hit to center field, scoring Greenberg, Berowy was replaced by High Vandenberg. With the Tigers in front of the Cubs, three to one. Jimmy Outlaw sacrificed both runners along. And Richards was purposely fast, filling the bases. Vandenberg then walked Neuhauser, forcing in Cullenbein. And the bases still remained loaded with Tiger runners. Webb forced Neuhauser at second, with York scoring on the play, putting the Tigers ahead by five to one. With Paul Derringer pitching in the seventh, Greenberg hit a looping fly into left, which fell between Murillo and Lowry for a two-base hit. Cullenbein sacrificed, and Hank was safe at third when Derringer threw too late to Hank. After York lied to Pascoe, Outlaw lined deep to center, Greenberg scoring after the catch. And that made it six to one for the Tigers. The Cubs came to life in their half of the seventh, and scored two runs, making it six to three. With Kramer on first in the Tiger night, Greenberg walloped his third double of the game, Kramer stopping at third. Roy Cullenbein followed with a two-bagger to center, scoring Kramer and Greenberg, with Pascoe having a little difficulty locating the ball in the beautiful Wrigley Field landscaping. Ground rules limited this wallop to a two-base hit. And this just about wrapped up the game for the Tigers at eight to three. In the last half of the ninth, Phil Cabaretta looped a fly ball into right center between Kramer and Cullenbein for a double, as the Tiger outfielders seemed to get their signals crossed. Neuhauser bore down, getting Pascoe for his ninth strikeout victim of the game. But Phil Nicholson wrapped out a single, scoring Cabaretta, and the Cubs were still in a fighting mood. After Livingston flied to Cullenbein, Shuster popped to catcher Richards, and the game was Tiger victory number three against two for the Cubs, with Hal Neuhauser the winner over Hank Baroey, the score being Detroit eight, Chicago four. For the sixth game at Wrigley Field, Virgil Trucks and Claude Pascoe are back, gunning for their second victory in the series, with another capacity crowd on hand. With the Tigers ahead one to nothing, Pascoe single through the box in the Cubs' half of the second. After Nicholson fouled out, Livingston forced Pascoe at second. And when Webb threw wild the first, Livingston tried to take second, but was tagged out, Richards to Webb. Don't get angry, boys. In the fifth inning for the Cubs, after Livingston started with a single to center field, Hughes beat out a bunt when York slipped in fielding the ball. Pascoe then hit a bounder to Trucks, and all runners were safe when the throw to third pulled Outlaw off the bag. Hack came through again with a single to center, scoring Livingston and Hughes. And when Richards missed Kramer's throw to the plate, Pascoe went to third base and hacked to second. After Johnson was out and Lowry walked, filling the bases, the dependable Cabaret aligned to hit the center, scoring Pascoe and Hack, putting the Cubs in front 4 to 1. Here's the Tiger 7, with the Cubs now in front 5 to 1. Hossettler batting for Webb was safe on Hack's fumble. Mayo was an easy out, but Kramer single to left. Hossettler stumbled after rounding third base and was out trying to score Lowry to Livingston to Hughes. Greenberg walked. Then Cullinan single to center, scoring Kramer. Manager Charlie Grimm decides to replace Pascoe at this point with another right-hander, Henry Wise. But York greets him with a base hit to left field, scoring Greenberg. This made the score Cubs 5, Tigers 3. The Cubs came back with 2 in the 7, making the score 7 to 3. The Tigers were still in their battling in the 8. With catcher Swift on base, pinch hitter Walker doubled over first, sending Swift to third. Hack fumbled Hoover's grounder, and Swift scored. After Mayo single to center, scoring Walker, another change of pitchers took place for the Cubs as Grimm replaced Wise. Lowry made a shoestring catch of Kramer's looping fly, but Hoover scored after the catch. And here's Hank Greenberg on the spot again. Grimm looks him over carefully with count 3 and 2. Greenberg connects with a long drive that clears the left field railing into the crowd for a home run, tying the score 7 to 7. It was Hank's second important home run blow of the series to put the Tigers back into the ballgame. Both teams battled on into extra innings with good pitching from Trout, who went to the mound for Detroit in the 8, and Berowy, who started the 9th for Chicago. In the 11th, Mayo stopped a Cub threat with a nice catch of Pascoe's Texas leaguer into short right field. In the last of the 12, Sikori batted for Murillo and single to center. Shuster was sent in to run for Sikori, and Trout was still going strong, setting Berowy down on strike. Stan Hack looks over and selects one of his favorite Louisville slugger models that has made him a threated bat in the National League for years. Hack then lines a double into left field. Greenberg comes running in to cut down the hit. The ball takes a bad hop over his left shoulder, which enabled Shuster to score all the way from first base with a winning run of the ballgame. In 12 innings, the Cubs are victors over the Tigers, 8-7. Hank Berowy was the winning pitcher with his second victory of the series, and Trout the loser. At the 7th and deciding game, the crucial one in this first World Series after victory. Even the band here at Wrigley Field has caught the spirit of this game. Just look at those drum majorettes. Now over here, we see Berowy, anchorman of the Cubs, warming up. He'd like to make it three pitching victories over the Tigers and the clinching game at that. Al Neuhauser, the ace left-hander, has his own ideas about that, and we'll know the answer very shortly. The Tigers were not to be denied as Webb opened the game with a base hit. His teammate Mayo followed with a safe hit to right, sending Webb to third. Kramer looped a safe one into left field, scoring the first Tiger run. And here comes Charlie Grimm to remove Berowy from the ballgame and replace him with Derringer, with one run home and Tigers on first and second. Greenberg crossed up the Cubs by advancing both runners on a sacrifice punt. Cabaretta handling the play unassisted. Cullenbine was intentionally passed, filling the bases. After York popped a hack, it looked like the trouble was over, but Derringer walked outlaw, forcing in Mayo. Catcher Paul Richards brought up a healthy double to left field, scoring Kramer, Cullenbine, and outlaw, giving the Tigers five big runs in the first inning of the final World Series game. Neuhauser was really bearing down in the fifth with a 6-2 lead, as both Hughes and Sauer were strikeout victims. In the Tigers' seventh, with Erickson pitching, Cullenbine on first and two out, Richards doubled to right center, scoring Cullenbine and driving in his fourth run of the game. Score, the Tigers 7, the Cubs 2. The Tigers added two more to their total in the eighth with Passaw pitching, making it 9-2. And here we are in the ninth and final inning of the last World Series game of 1945. Hughes singles off Neuhauser. McCullough came to bat for the pitcher, Wise, but he became Neuhauser's 10th strikeout victim of the game. Packed fly to Kramer in center field for the second out. And when Don Johnson forced Hughes at second, the Detroit Tigers became the 1945 champions of the baseball world. After losing his opening assignment, Neuhauser captured his second victory of the series, a highly important one. The Tigers had the batting punch and pitching strength to win. The capacity crowds lifted the total attendance at all World Series play to more than eight million. No wonder baseball is called our national game. And all other sports helped to keep America fit, helped keep American youth fit to play in the bigger game of life the world over. ♪♪