July 22, 1947: Philadelphia, PA:
"Fifteen and three, two-point-one-seven," Roger Cleaves stated to his uncle. That was the impressive season record of St. Louis pitcher Danny Hern, making him the clear favorite to win the Federal Association's Allen Award.
Bobby Barrell held his bat up to his eye, aligning the barrel as if it were a rifle, without responding to Roger.
They both sat in the Keystones' clubhouse before their scheduled night game against the Pioneers.
"Are you even listening to me?" Roger asked, frustration creeping into his voice.
With one eye closed, Bobby inspected his bat and remarked, "I think this one might be a little crooked."
Growing more exasperated, Roger pressed, "Bobby? Are you listening?"
Bobby sighed, putting the bat down and leaning over it, holding the knob with the top of the barrel on the floor. He replied matter-of-factly, "Sure, I hear you. None of that stuff matters."
The surprise and disbelief on Roger's face brought a smile to Bobby's lips. He raised a hand to halt Roger from speaking.
"Look, Roger," Bobby began, speaking gently, "You shouldn't worry too much about the pitcher."
Roger stared at his uncle, waiting for more. Bobby looked back at him until Roger, now even more frustrated, asked, "Why?"
Bobby shrugged. "Simple," he explained. "You can't control what the pitcher does. You should worry about what you can do, not what the pitcher does. That's why I check my bats every day."
"But..." Roger started, thinking about how exceptional Danny Hern had been in the season so far.
Smiling, Bobby interrupted again. "I'm not saying you shouldn't know as much about the pitcher as you can. You definitely need to know what he throws and how he attacks hitters. If you've faced him enough, it'll become second nature. But as you're a rookie, you need to observe and see how he pitches to me, how he pitches to Koblenz... and so on," he finished, waving his hand.
Bobby returned to examining his bat. As Billy Woytek strolled by, he muttered, "Four ninety-eight," and winked at Roger.
Bobby grinned and shook his head. "That Billy," he said.
The 498 Woytek mentioned was the number of career home runs Bobby Barrell had achieved. He reached that milestone two days earlier in New York, during a frustrating 9-8 loss. It had become typical of the 1947 Philadelphia Keystones: the offense would dominate the opposing pitcher, but their own pitching would let them down (with the exception of Lloyd Stevens, of course). It was a challenging season for the team, with a record of 40-54, while the front-running Pioneers boasted 57-33.
"I hate night games," Roger muttered.
Bobby shrugged once more. Roger had grown accustomed to his uncle's somewhat nonchalant attitude. Of course, Bobby was so talented that he could excel in any game setting. This aspect sometimes irked Roger, but he knew it stemmed mainly from jealousy.
"I see the ball pretty well under the lights," Bobby remarked. Roger responded in a slightly desultory tone, "You see the ball pretty well all the time, Bob." Bobby laughed, not denying the fact.
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It turned out that Bobby Barrell did indeed see it pretty good under the lights - at least on that night. Danny Hern might have been enjoying a great season, but he, like so many other hurlers, couldn't handle Bobby Barrell.
St. Louis was in first place and playing extremely well. They torched Keystones starter Charlie Waddell for five runs in the top of the first. In the home half, Bobby singled sharply off Hern, a hard hit grounder between the first and second basemen that proved to be the least impressive at-bat Bobby had that night, and it still resulted in a hit. Koblenz followed with a groundout to end the inning.
Waddell managed a 1-2-3 second and Roger led off the home half of the second with a solid single of his own past the Pioneers third baseman. That gave him a boost of confidence: maybe Hern wasn't superhuman after all. He was stranded when Nate Power flew out to center and Robicheaux, still trying to emulate Bobby, grounded into an inning-ending double play.
In the third the Pioneers jumped on Waddell again. Roger, catching, made a trip to the mound to talk to Waddell. The pitcher was having none of it and told him in stark terms to get his behind back behind the plate where it belonged. Waddell proceeded to give up an RBI single to Hern and Everhart had seen enough, replacing Waddell with Jonah Brown. It was 8-0 heading to the home third and 9-0 heading to the home fourth. In the dugout, Roger sat next to Bobby and noticed that his uncle was angry, muttering the score and scowling before grabbing his bat and heading to the on-deck circle as Woytek stepped in.
Woytek singled to start the inning and Bobby strode to the plate. Koblenz, shaking his head, said to Roger as he walked past on his way to the bat rack, "Bobby's angry. This is probably going to be bad for Hern."
And it was. Bobby took two strikes and then belted his 499th career home run, going to the opposite field. The two-run shot made it 9-2 and Bobby was still scowling as he returned to the dugout. The fans provided some desultory cheering but these were Philadelphia fans and they were as angry as Bobby was. Roger congratulated Bobby who nodded his thanks and sat down, his face still grim. Koblenz singled, then Roger followed with his second single, bringing the young first baseman Power to the plate. Hern, looking a bit angry himself, whiffed the rookie on three pitches before Robicheaux beat out an infield single to load the bases. Shortstop Frank Davis doubled into the gap, scoring Koblenz and Roger and cutting it to 9-4. The Keystones couldn't bring Robicheaux home, however they did succeed in batting around.
In the fifth Jonah Brown worked into and out of trouble without further damage. Woytek led off the bottom of the fifth with another shot into the gap and in typical Billy Woytek-fashion turned it into a hustling triple. Bobby came up for the third time, worked a 2-2 count with a couple of foul balls and then drove a moonshot into the stands in left-center for his second two-run homer of the game. Even better, this was his 500th career home run. Bobby did manage to crack a smile as the fans gave him a standing ovation and accepted the congratulations of his team mates on his return to the dugout. "That's 9-6 boys, let's get this one," he said, his grim expression back after a momentary celebratory smile.
Ben Fiskars came on to replace Hern after Bobby's homer. Koblenz greeted the new pitcher with a solo shot of his own, his 24th of the season (Bobby was at an incredible 42 homers now) to make it 9-7. The attitude in the Keystones dugout was much improved as they were feeling that momentum had swung their way.
Brown and Fiskars each enjoyed a 1-2-3 inning in the sixth before Brown gave up back to back singles to Bill Freeman and Homer Mills which led to St. Louis scoring its tenth run of the game on a squeeze bunt successfully executed by Ben Fiskars with Bill Freeman coming home from third. In the home seventh, Billy Woytek led off with a double bringing Bobby to the plate again with a man on and already three-for-three on the day. He took the first pitch for strike one and fouled the second back over the screen and into the crowd behind the plate. On the third one he laced his third home run of the game, again going to the opposite field, 333 feet into the seats, scoring Woytek and making it 10-9. Fiskars, shaking his head as he watched Bobby circling the bases with a determined look on his face, recovered to whiff both Koblenz and Roger and then got Nate Power to fly to left to prevent further damage.
In the eighth, the Keystones mounted yet another rally attempt. After Robicheaux flew to center to start the inning, Frank Davis doubled off the center field wall. Henry Schmidt, hitting for Jonah Brown, struck out swinging. With the top of the order coming, Pioneers skipper Hugh Luckey replaced Fiskars with lefty Russ Peeples. Peeples worked a 1-2 count on Wilbur Zimmerman before the Keystones' centerfielder singled up the middle. Davis, running hard the whole way, rounded third and headed for home. Cal Page, the Pioneers' CF, charged, scooped the ball off the grass and fired home. Davis slid hard in a cloud of dust and was.... out! That ended the inning and the game remained at 10-9 entering the ninth.
Jim Whitely came on to pitch a 1-2-3 top half for Philly. Peeples went back out to see if he could close out the win for the Pioneers. Woytek was again at the plate, but his magic had apparently run out as he lined it towards the gap but it was run down by left fielder Larry Gregory. Bobby stepped in and every fan in the house was hoping for a fourth home run. But it wasn't to be as Peeples got Bobby to put it on the ground on a 3-1 sinker. It was hit hard, but right at Freeman at second base, who tossed over to first to retire Bobby. Koblenz, the Keystones last hope, swung on the first pitch and lined it to center where Page gloved it easily to end the game.
Bobby, his mouth set in a line, grabbed his bats and headed up the tunnel towards the clubhouse. Roger, following, wanted to say something because it had been, by most measures, a great night for his uncle. He'd gone 4-for-5 with three home runs and six runs batted in. The three homers had increased his season's total to 43, just 17 shy of tying Max Morris' FABL record of 60 in a season. And the Keystones still had 59 games left to play. But Roger could tell from Bobby's body language that what mattered most to him was that the team had lost 10-9 and Roger himself felt the weight of that too. They'd gone down 9-0 before rallying but still came up short, which had been the team's season in a nutshell.
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Roger Cleaves, 1947 Baseball Card
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