[Big Six]

Boston Herald, September 25, 1933

THANK YOU, SKINNY GRAHAM!
Journeyman Hurler Beats "Schoolboy" Rowe, 2-1
Sox Clinch Pennant Despite Loss To Browns

CLEVELAND--Forgive Bill Carrigan for believing that if the Boston Red Sox were going to clinch the 1933 American League pennant today, it would happen via a Boston victory, rather than a Detroit Tigers defeat.

The mathematics were very simple. The Boston club could assure themselves of the chance to defend their World Series title by winning the game; a loss by the Tigers would also do the trick. While Carrigan's Red Hose faced a tough veteran pitcher in Molly Craft of the St. Louis Browns, the Tigers were sending rookie sensation Lyn "Schoolboy" Rowe to the mound to face the seventh-place Cleveland Indians. Pitching for the Indians would be hard-luck Skinny Graham, the losingest pitcher in the major leagues. Graham, who has made a career of pitching mediocre baseball for even worse teams, looked like a cinch to tie his career record for losses in a single season at twenty-five.

Instead, Skinny Graham pitched a masterpiece of a game, holding the potent Tigers hitters to five hits and a single run. The Browns hit Rowe just hard enough to score twice, giving Graham his twelfth victory of the year.

Meanwhile, in St. Louis, Molly Craft was pitching as well as Graham was in Cleveland. Craft's teammates were hitting Boston hurler Buster Ross hard and often, with Johnny Frederick doing the most damage. The outfielder came to the plate in the sixth with the bases loaded and cleared the sacks with a ringing double, giving him an even hundred RBI for the season. Goose Goslin and Turkey Stearnes drove in the other Browns runs, Goslin plating two with a triple in the second, and Stearnes logging his 106th RBI in the seventh on a sacrifice fly.

When the Red Sox reached the dugout at the conclusion of the game, losers by a 6-1 margin, they learned that Graham had outdueled Rowe and enabled the Sox to secure the pennant. This news did not trigger the sort of celebration that usually occurs when a team wins the pennant, however.

“We don’t celebrate when we lose,” veteran catcher Johnny Bassler said, straight-faced. “The fact that Detroit also lost today doesn’t change that one bit.” When asked if the team would acknowledge its victory in the pennant fight, Bassler answered in the affirmative. “We’re on our way back to Boston tonight, and we’ll celebrate with our fans there. We just lost a ballgame, and right now we don’t feel like a party.”

The victory will allow the Red Sox to set their pitching rotation for the Series, as they await the conclusion of the National League race. The Pittsburgh Pirates now lead the St. Louis Cardinals by one game, a race tightened considerably by a five-game Cards winning streak. Thanks to a delightful bit of scheduling, the contending clubs play tomorrow in Pittsburgh. The Cardinals’ pitcher will be 22-game-winner Al Grabowski, while the Pirates will counter with Clint Brown, winner of sixteen contests himself.

“We’re ready for whichever club wins,” Carrigan assured Red Sox fans.