[Jiggs McGee]

OCTOBER 4, 1940

MINERS END OCTOBER DROUGHT, EARN SPLIT IN TORONTO

The Pittsburgh Miners put to bed their 8 game World Championship Series losing streak by taking the opener of this year's classic by a 3-2 score over Toronto. The Wolves did come back with a 5-2 victory over Lefty Allen the next day to even the series, which now shifts to the Steel City for the next 3 contests.

GAME 1: PITTSBURGH 3 TORONTO 2

A big sign of relief out of Miners fans upon hearing news that their club snapped an 8-game postseason losing streak that stretches back to game two of the 1937 WCS when after winning the opener, Pittsburgh proceeded to drop 4 straight to the Brooklyn Kings. The stretch of futility continued last year when the Miners were swept by the New York Stars. That could finally be forgotten and the Miners could take a breath and celebrate a Series victory that seemed long overdue.

Karl Johnson, winner of 15 regular season games, was the hero of the day by tossing a very impressive complete game 8-hitter in which he kept the Wolves off the scoresheet until the final inning. The Miners took an early lead, plating a run in the first on a Mahlon Strong sacrifice fly to score Joe Owens. Toronto starter Joe Hancock giftwrapped a run for the visitors in the second inning when he uncorked a wild pitch with two out and his opposing number Johnson at the dish. The errant toss allowed Jack Cleaves, who had doubled earlier in the inning to trot home with the game's second run. For good measure, and as it would end up necessarily so, the Miners picked up another run in the fourth inning when Johnny Guzzo tripled in Cleaves to make it 3-0. The damage for Toronto could have been worse but Pablo Reyes, who had singled before Cleaves came to the plate, was thrown out trying to go from first to third on Cleaves hit.

Toronto had a few chances against Johnson but failed to score. In the bottom of the third the Wolves got back to back singles from Levi Redding and Fred McCormick with two out but Walt Pack grounded out to end the threat. The Wolves had one base runner most innings but each time Johnson would bear down and get out of the inning. That changed in the ninth when Larry Vestal led off with a single and moved to third on a pinch-hit double off the bat of Hal Wood. Pittsburgh manager Dan Andrew decided to stick with Johnson, who induced a groundout from Charlie Artuso but it did score Vestal with the first Toronto run. That brought Clarence Howerton to the plate. Howerton has had pretty good success through the years against Johnson (he is 10-for-37) and he delivered this time with a rbi single to score Wood and cut the Pittsburgh lead to 3-2.

Andrew showed faith in his veteran lefthander, either that or a lack of confidence in his bullpen, as he remained stoic in the dugout and left Johnson on the mound. Andrew was rewarded as Johnson retired the final two batters without incident and the Miners had drawn first blood in the series.

GAME 2: TORONTO 5 PITTSBURGH 2

The Wolves evened the Series with a 5-2 victory thanks to a 2-run single in the bottom of the seventh from pinch-hitter Hal Wood. That snapped a 2-2 tie and allowed the Wolves to head out on the road with a split of the two games at Dominion Field. It also perhaps freshly watered the seeds of doubt that must still exist in the minds of Miners fans, if not the players themselves. Pittsburgh has a rich history of Federal Association pennants, 9 of them in all counting this season which is tops in the Fed and ties them with the New York Stars and Chicago Cougars for the most World Championship Series appearances. Unfortunately for the organization the Miners have won only once in their previous 8 title series. That victory came way back in 1901 and the club has been to 4 since, losing each of them. Little of that would normally matter to Miners players, none of whom were alive when the club last celebrated a Series title, except for the fact that the last two defeats - in 1937 and again last season - hit a little closer to home and most of the current group was around for each of those failures.

So one has to wonder when ace Lefty Allen failed to get the second victory on the road, which would have put a hammerlock on the series for Pittsburgh, how that might play in the minds of the Miners. Certainly Allen has to be wondering what is wrong as he is 93-51 against Federal Association opponents the past four seasons but 1-4 with a 5.02 era in WCS play during that time. Allen now has a personal 4 game losing streak going against Continental clubs.

The early story in the series is Johnson and Johnson. Pittsburgh Karl took control of game one while in the second game it was the Wolves Bernie Johnson (no relation to Karl) who carried the mail on the mound. Bernie went the distance, scattering 9 hits to earn the victory in his first career post-season appearance.

Toronto got to Allen early when Levi Redding singled with one out in the first, moved to third on a Fred McCormick single and scored on a Walt Pack ground out. Later in the inning Tom Frederick would drive in McCormick to make it 2-0. It would stay that way until the 7th when the Miners evened the game thanks to a pair of doubles off the bats of Wally Flowers and Pablo Reyes and an rbi single from Pittsburgh pitcher Allen. It did not stay tied for long as the Wolves took the lead for good in the bottom of the 7th thanks to Wood's second pinch-hit of the series which scored Charlie Artuso and Clarence Howerton. Artuso would drive in Larry Vestal with an rbi single in the 8th to add an insurance run and complete the scoring in the 5-2 Toronto victory.

ARE THE MINERS PLAYING WITH FIRE USING LEFTY ALLEN SO MUCH?

No pitcher has been busier than Pittsburgh's Lefty Allen has over the past four seasons as he has averaged over 337 innings of work per year during that time, not counting WCS games. Allen led FABL in starts with 40 this season and in innings pitched with 329.2. He has led the Federal Association in each of those categories three out of the past four years. Could that be why he has struggled in WCS play? Is Allen burned out? Looking at his September/October regular season performance the past four years one would argue against 'burnout'.

LEFTY ALLEN  SEPT-OCT
	W-L    ERA    
1937	7-2   3.14 	    
1938	3-4   4.06    
1939	7-1   1.54        
1940	3-4   4.94

However in WCS play, Allen has been far less than his stellar self.

His K/9 is substantially down in WCS play and his walks are way up. In regular season action is HR/9 is 0.6 but in WCS play it is 1.0. Most telling perhaps is his ERA+ which is 132 over his career during the season but a clearly below average 85 in playoff baseball. Yes it is a small sample size but it certainly is a disturbing one for Miners fans, especially if the Miners face a must-win situation the next time Allen is slated to start. I am by no means suggesting Dan Andrew skip a WCS start for the best pitcher in baseball the past four seasons but I would not want to be in his shoes if he faces that choice in a must-win situation heading into Game Four. If the Miners are up 3-1 it is easy to send Allen to the hill and give him another shot to get things going, but down 3-1 and it becomes a much tougher call to make.

The press box talk during Allen's 4th straight Series loss naturally centered around overwork and the Miners habit of going with a 4-man rotation all season. Here is some of that conversation:

JOHN BRINKER (NY Mirror): I just wonder if Lefty could post a Rabbit Day circa '36-type season if he made, say, 37 starts instead of 40+. "Would that 23-13 turn into something like 25-7 and that ERA drop into the mid 2s? I think it's possible."

JIGGS MCGEE (TWIFB): With 3 pennants in 4 years it is hard to question Miners usage of Lefty but the risk of a greatly shortened career is there. On one hand I like that he pitches so much as it would be great to see him win over 300 games but on the other I would not want to see it harm his career.

PERCY SUTHERLAND (Chicago Herald-Examiner): The interesting question is: does he have a better chance of winning 300 by pitching less?

BRINKER: I think the answer might be yes. Looking at Rabbit Day, his usage was somewhat similar to Lefty's when he was on the Cannons (slightly less but three straight 300+ IP seasons). Both his win percentage and ERA improved when he left and was used in a more 5-man type rotation. To me, Rabbit's 36 season when he went 25-3 with 2 saves, a 2.41 ERA pitching 276.1 IP with 41 appearance but "only" 31 starts is the epitome of what this era's ideal pitcher looks like.

MCGEE: I wonder if Tom Barrell is an example of what could happen to Allen. Brooklyn used Barrell for an average of about 308 innings a year during his 3 Allan Award winning seasons at age 26-28. The Kings were using a 4-man rotation for much of that but most other guys I subbed around a bit so he was the only one pitching that much. Interesting to note is they did not win a pennant in the first two seasons of his big numbers but did win in the two years after his starts were reduced and they went to a 5 man rotation. A big reason for the switch to the 5-man was Tom started getting hurt and the injuries, while not every season, have been pretty severe when they hit. He has also not been all that effective since 1937 so I wonder if the overuse in 34-36 is a contributing factor to the injuries and subpar play since then.

SUTHERLAND: I think Barrell is a perfect example, as well as cautionary tale. Jiggs mentioned that the Chiefs have had success with pitcher who are veteran castoffs. There is a reason for that, I think (the fact they spread the starts out so much to keep everyone fresh.) The Chiefs typically go into a season with starters 1 through 6, and with 7-day lineups, any given sim week could see a 4, 5, or 6 man rotation depending on doubleheaders, off days, matchups, etc.

BRINKER: I guess the question that needs to be asked if you're Boston or Pittsburgh is if you're better off with a 4-man with each guy being slightly worse, performance-wise and/or having a higher risk of injury than you would be spot-starting a lesser guy as a 5th starter? With how competitive the league is...as evidenced by the deep pennant races in both associations this season, I can see why guys would ride their horses so hard. But long-term it looks like it's likely a bad move.

Is 85-90% of Lefty Allen better than 100% of someone else? It might be, but then again, it might not. And just think of how ridiculous he could be if his usage was trimmed back by 3 to 5 starts. And there's always the war. If Lefty gets through '41 without burning out, then goes away for three seasons, it'll have been worth it, I would think. He could come back in '46 and stink for all we know.

SUTHERLAND: Just scanning Lefty's game log, you notice a trend. Game scores in the 90s, 80s, 70s are prevalent, and then they are not. 71 on August 29th, 79 just 3 days later and then that's it. No more 70s.

BRINKER: (nodding) Yes, his performance certainly dropped off by a fairly noticeable margin down the stretch (with a few outliers).

DENTON FOX (Pittsburgh Press): When the Miners had long stretches with no off days, (Manager Dan) Andrew would move a 5th guy in there, Speed Brown or Gene Stevens, but they definitely use any off day as a reason to keep it at 4. But, the perceived drop off to that 5th guy in the Miners' rotation was pretty heavy. The Miners are certainly shopping for another steady starter (or maybe two) this offseason, I expect with all this in mind.

QUICK HITS

• With all the Lefty Allen talk it should be noted that 3 Pittsburgh pitchers started more than 35 games this season. Charlie Stedman and Karl Johnson were the other two. There were only four other pitchers in the league to make at least 36 starts including Boston's Ed Wood and Art Myers as well as Sergio Gonzales of Detroit and the lone CA pitcher to do so was Ed Baker of Montreal.
• An interesting tidbit about those 7 pitchers with more than 35 starts. Ed Baker was the least effective of the group, but he did one thing really well: limit homeruns. In 279 innings he gave up only 9 home runs (0.3 per 9). Of course 19 of 36 starts were in Parc Cartier, but he was effective on the road too (home: 0.2 HR/9, road: 0.4 HR/9).
• In 19 home starts Baker gave up 3 home runs. Who were the batters? On May 19th, Fred McCormick hit a 3-run shot in a 4-2 Wolves win. On July 6th, Bill Barrett took Baker deep as part of 3 for 5 afternoon during a 3-1 Stars win. And then on August 3rd pitcher Ron Coles hit one during a 10-7 Wolves win. That is only 1 of 2 home runs that Coles has hit in his career. The other home run that Coles hit came in 1937 off of the Keystones Art Myers. Coles--a lifetime .193 hitter--is 2 for 6 (.333) off of Ed Baker in his career.
• The only team to hit multiple home runs off of Baker were the Cougars in an August 31st game in Chicago. Both home runs were hit by Ray Ford as part of a 3 for 4 performance during a 9-6 Cougars win.
• Success off the field for Toronto as well as on. Not only did the Wolves win their first pennant since 1911 but this was the first time Toronto topped a million in attendance, beat the record set two years ago by almost 177K.
• Not everything is coming up roses in Toronto. Despite the Wolves success this season there is some talk of unrest in the clubhouse, perhaps even enough that might cause the club to not consider bringing manager Hank Leitzke back next season. More than one player is said to be upset with veteran skipper, who's contract expires at the end of the season. It would be the first time certainly in recent years, if not in the entire modern (human GM) era a pennant winning manager has not returned to start the following season. This is Leitzke's 6th season in Toronto. He also managed for 3 and a half years in Cleveland as well as a brief 74 game stint in charge of the Chicago Cougars in 1934. He has a lifetime mark of 678-719 and this was his first pennant winning season.
• Since being acquired by the Miners two seasons ago, Pablo Reyes is hitting .312/.374/.464 (OPS+ 120) with 14.2 WAR. I said at the time that was a great pickup by Pittsburgh.
• It is the WCS. Time to second guess Dan Andrew. Much was made of Andrew's questionable call to pull Charlie Stedman after 7 very strong innings in Game Two of the '37 series. Reliever Lou Ellertson got lit up as the Kings scored 7 runs in the 8th and rolled to a series victory. There were murmurs in the press box when Andrew lifted Jack Cleaves for pinch-hitter Whit Williams in the top of the 8th with the Miners trailing 4-2 but with Mahlon Strong on base. Williams hit a weak groundball back to the pitcher for the second out of a game the Miners lost 5-2. It was for the lefty-righty matchup but Cleaves, while 0-for-3 in the game, was pretty successful over his career against Toronto starter Bernie Johnson, going 10-for-36 (.278). Certainly not the turning point the move in '37 turned out to be though. And you have to give Andrew his due in deciding to stick with Karl Johnson in the ninth inning of Game One. That certainly paid off.
• his was the 2nd consecutive year that Ron Rattigan has lead the Fed in triples (15 in 1939 and 16 this season) although he did tie for the lead this time around with the Keystones Hank McKay.
• Over the past few weeks, the Chiefs have gotten most of their core under new contracts for 1941. The negotiation with Day was a little difficult as he wanted a raise to $38,000. We settled on a base of $36,000 with all-star and Allen Award bonuses could push that to $44,000.
• A weird complaint out of Boston. The Minutemen GM was laughing as he told this story in the press box during the WCS. "So I get this message from Charlie Barry this morning. He says "I'm unhappy with my role on the team, I hate coming to the ballpark lately. I feel like I'm a part of the starting lineup, and I hope you consider giving me the respect and role I deserve." If I could write a response it would be the following: Charlie, we love you baby but you told us earlier this year that you are going to retire at seasons end and big fella, I'm not sure if you noticed, but it is October 3rd and we didn't make the playoffs. Nobody is playing right now. Did you notice nobody has been at the field in the last 4 days? To which Philadelphia Inquisitor scribe Johnny Bologna deadpanned "Maybe he hates coming to the ballpark because he's lonely. No one pitches him the ball. He just stands there at the plate with a bat in his hand looking around."

The Week That Was
Current events from 10/04/1940

• Spain has given permission for German and Italian troops to cross Spanish territory in order to reach their military goals including taking Gibraltar.
• Berlin takes steps to evacuate women and children from the city as British bombing runs intensify.
• One of Germany's most authoritative papers, the Hamburger Fremdenblatt, has called upon the United States and Russia to come out in the open on one side or the other of the present war. It states the Soviets expect to remain neutral but asserts the US "actually is in full association" with Great Britain's war effort.
• Japan is said to be preparing to attack Singapore, Britain's great Far East fortress in the event Britain interferes with Japanese plans or if the United States enters the war.
• Western Hemisphere defense is the focus meetings in Washington with 20 high ranking military officers from nine Latin American republics.
• The US House approved a $1 billion dollar excess profit tax designed to prevent the creation of 'war millionaires." The proposal still requires Senate approval before the bill is sent to President Roosevelt for his signature.
• On the campaign trail Wendell Wilkie blames President Roosevelt's conduct of foreign affairs as reason "three of the most belligerent powers in the world are thinking of us in terms of war." Wilkie claimed as a result of Roosevelt's 'bumbling' the United States has "little influence in the world today."
• Amid rumoured health concerns former Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain resigns from current PM Winston Churchill's cabinet.