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SEPTEMBER 1, 1932 THE THRIFTLON TIMES 10 CENTS
"ALL THE NEWS THAT'S FIT TO BE NEWS"
HOOVER EVICTS BONUS ARMY
43,000 Marchers Ordered to Disperse
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A18 Obituaries
Kenneth Grahame, author of "The Wind In The Willows"
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B1 BUSINESS
First Radio Broadcast From A Moving Train
Okay, We Get It Already. No More First Radio Broadcasts From Here On Out
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C1 ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
New Radio Craze: Jack Benny
Except This One. And Also Other Important Ones
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D1 SPORTS
It's Setting Up To Be A Subway Series
Yankees, Giants Primed To Square Off In Fall Classic For First Time
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American League Standings
Team W L PCT GB Pyt.Rec Diff Home Away M# Streak
New York Yankees 77 45 0.631 - 79-43 -2 36-24 41-21 28 W3
Chicago White Stockings 69 50 0.580 6.5 65-54 4 38-27 31-23 L1
Boston Red Sox 61 58 0.513 14.5 63-56 -2 26-27 35-31 W1
Philadelphia Athletics 60 59 0.504 15.5 63-56 -3 27-27 33-32 L3
Cleveland Indians 60 60 0.500 16 59-61 1 29-35 31-25 L3
St. Louis Browns 55 63 0.466 20 54-64 1 33-30 22-33 W4
Detroit Tigers 49 69 0.415 26 48-70 1 27-36 22-33 W3
Washington Senators 47 74 0.388 29.5 48-73 -1 25-31 22-43 L8
National League Standings
Team W L PCT GB Pyt.Rec Diff Home Away M# Streak
New York Giants 86 32 0.729 - 80-38 6 40-12 46-20 18 W5
Cincinnati Reds 67 51 0.568 19 69-49 -2 35-19 32-32 W1
Philadelphia Phillies 62 60 0.508 26 67-55 -5 33-33 29-27 L4
Pittsburgh Pirates 61 62 0.496 27.5 62-61 -1 34-33 27-29 L1
St Louis Cardinals 58 61 0.487 28.5 57-62 1 28-35 30-26 L4
Chicago Cubs 58 66 0.468 31 58-66 0 32-39 26-27 L2
Boston Braves 45 71 0.388 40 47-69 -2 18-36 27-35 W3
Brooklyn Dodgers 42 76 0.356 44 39-79 3 14-38 28-38 W2
The Yankees have taken advantage of the size of their city and stadium and the way the Great Depression has swept the nation to, frankly, purchase their way to the top of the standings. The Yanks, who have to date won just 3 pennants and 2 World Series championships in the history of the league, are trying to make it 4 and 3 behind a few superstars plucked from other teams: SP Bob "Eeyore" Meyers (19-10, 2.60 ERA), formerly of the Brooklyn Dodgers, LF Carter Keeton (.331, 21 HR, 92 RBI), acquired from the St. Louis Browns this offseason, and 3B Quincy Hudson (.340, 16, 76) of the Boston Braves. This triumvate of purchased players joins 7-time 20 game winner Steve Krug (16-6, 2.74), leadoff hitter and CF Nathan Behnke (.327, 3, 50 21 SB), and SS/1B Mike Kennedy (.314, 11, 89) to master the American league.
In the National, the Giants have made a couple of key acquisitions as well but mostly their success is home-grown and therefore sweeter. Their 3-4 punch of CF Erik Conn (.303, 30, 115) and 3B Emory Jefferson (.341, 31, 111) paces an attack that ranks first in the league in runs scored with 792 and threatens to break the NL record of 995 runs scored, set 2 years ago by the hard-hitting Phillies (more on them in a bit). They'll have to average 5.6 runs per game to meet that mark, not an easy metric but quite a bit less than the 6.7 they've tallied so far this year.
But it's not all about hitting for these boys, although it could be. They're lapping the rest of the league because they've got four men who all figure to win 20 games this season: phenom John Burns, 21-7 3.44 in his second season in the bigs, Fred Fleming (21-6, 2.71) who is undefeated at 15-0 since arriving from the Cleveland Indians in midseason, 327 game winner Ryan "Pinto" Rush (19-7, 4.01), and junkballer Li Alport (16-8, 3.87). The National League record of 108 wins (in 1921) and the Giants own record of 107 (in 1911) will be tough to reach but aren't impossible.
State of the Game: HR Mark Falls, Others On The Way?
Records are Made to be Broken, But So Soon?
It was just two years ago that Ray Thompson shocked the world by blasting 33 homeruns in the offensive-filled season of 1930. Now that total is looking positively pedestrian now that no less than four batters have achieved the 30 dinger mark this season. Prior to 1932, only four batters had gone over that previously believed untouchable mark. We've discussed the two New Yorkers on that list. The other two are Philadelphia Phillies 1B Remi Parent (.349, 35, 109) and CF Charles Payne (.336, 32, 106) (and as a brief aside, if you're wondering why the Phillies are so average this year despite all the circuit clouts, you need look no further than their 13-24 record against the Jints and Reds, the true aces of the league). The homerun mark has fallen; the only question is how far will it fall.
With all these homers, you'd expect the RBI record to be assaulted this year as well, and you'd be right. Right now the man in the driver's seat is Cincinnati Reds RF Brad Box (.375, 23, 120), who is on pace to break Chris Gregg's mark of 149, also set in 1930 (familiar refrain?). Unlike the four homerun mashers, Box is the only RBI man on his club and thus gets the benefit of many more opportunities. It doesn't hurt that he hits a maniacal .433 with runners in scoring position.
The record for base hits is the oldest one of the bunch, set by Jay Calvin back in 1922, a time that feels like a century ago, not a decade. The Browns' Lester Archie (.385, 14, 87), who almost certainly will be taken by the highest bidder this offseason due to the cash-strapped situation of the St. Louis AL squad, is on pace to collect 248 base knocks, 5 more than what Calvin accomplished. He's followed closely by Jay Calvin himself, now with Cincinnati (.364, 4, 56, on pace for 240 hits) and teammate Bob Leonhart (.373, 7, 98). Calvin was just 21 years of age when he set that record so it's not surprising to see him on this list.
Finally, there is the matter of the two-base hit. Not the most glamorous of records but it still counts, right? The man who looks like he'll be crowned at the top of this list is Pittsburgh Pirate RF John Giron (.297, 2, 55), who had just 22 2-base hits last year and has passed the 30-double mark just twice in his career prior to this season. He's trailed by Chicago Cub Carson Groth (.323, 3, 58, 46 2Bs) and St. Louis Cardinal CF George Halter (.336, 8. 62, 44 2Bs). The record's only 55. It'll fall for sure.
What Happened To The Pitching?
An Editorial by Resident Curmudgeon Jesse "Rawhide" McLagan
Back in my day, men knew how to pitch. Oh, we didn't have all these fancy pitches like the "nickel curve" or the "forkball" or the "dime change" (you whippersnappers probably didn't even know I made that one up, did you?) but we could get men out all the same. Now, my own accomplishments have been lost to history but let me throw a little statination at ya: 22 years ago, the American League had a collective earned run average of 2.85. So far this year it's at 4.51 and shows no signs of going down. And that's for the weaker league? The NL sits at 4.61 so far. That's more than an earned run every two innings! Take errors into account and you've got a 10-6 ballgame every other day!
Why are these numbers so high? I'll tell you. Today's pitcher has forgotten how to put fear into the heart of a hitter and in doing so simply cannot strike a man out when he needs to. Oh, Rawhide, you say. That's just crazy talk. Maybe today's hitters have learned how not to strike out. Hogwash, I say! With their home run swings and their home run prances, do you really think they'd strike out *less* than they used to if the pitching was all the same? And yet, that's what they do! Look at this top 5 list from 1906:
Turner, STB 189
Cooks, PHA 183
Delaney, STB 175
Martineau, CLE 166
Silva, PHA 161
And here's the same list from 1932:
Hinman, CHA 145
Brewer, PHA 142
Meyers, NYY 112
Boulanger, BOS 103
Castillo, CHA 87
More crazy talk, old Rawhide, you say? The season isn't over yet? Well, you tell me how Jose "Moo" Castillo is going to double his strikeout total in the next month, which is what he'd have to do to get on that aught-six list? I'll tell you how he's not going to do it: by letting hitters make mooing sounds when he comes to the plate. That's just showing a lack of respect. If hitters did that to me, well, let's just say that the hit batsmen record would be broken in the first month. This "Moo" kid, though, he seems to enjoy it. "Lends to his mystique", I've heard him say. Well, let me say this, Moo-Cow Castillo, it's not mystique when the entire crowd sounds like they're booing when they're calling out your name! And it sure as shootin' ain't mystique when your own home crowd bangs on cowbells every game that you pitch!
Ugh. Kids today. They just don't make 'em like they used to.