[jksander]

April 15, 1947: It’s opening day, and this afternoon Diomedes Olivo took the field against Detroit’s Hal Newhouser, the team’s 25-year-old five star ace, who was 29-9 in 1944 and 25-9 in 1945 before having a “down” year last season going 13-11 with a 3.17 ERA. We surprised a lot of folks by actually getting 26,000 fans to come see us open the season, and the enthusiasm didn’t last long as the Tigers got a three-run homer off the bat of Hoot Evers in the top of the first to take a quick 3-0 lead. Eddie Lake hit an RBI single to add another on in the second, but Wally Moses did get an RBI single that, coupled with an E9 throwing error, got us on the board trailing 4-1 after two. In the bottom of the third Jackie Robinson got the fans on their feet with an RBI double, scoring Dillinger and Stephens to get us back within a run, though he got caught stealing moments later, so he didn’t get a chance to score a run himself. Olivo stayed locked in, and in the bottom of the fifth we tied the score with an RBI single from Stephens, took the lead off a bases loaded walk by Cavarretta, and added on with a sac-fly by Joe Schultz to put us ahead 6-4 heading into the top of the sixth inning! Olivo himself would score in the bottom of the sixth, off a flyball double from Harry Walker, and though they got a run back off a sac-fly in the seventh, Fevers took the ball with two outs and a man on and got us safely into the stretch leading 7-5. Sam Zoldak took over in the ninth with the lead still at two runs, and it didn’t go well ... Barney McCoskey hit an RBI double with no outs to cut our lead to one, and with two outs Hank Greenberg hit a line drive single that drove in the tying run. Zoldak got the strikeout to get us into the bottom of the frame, and this one wound up going into extra innings. Ned Garver took over in the 10th, and he pitched a beauty -- three excellent innings, capped off when Harry Walker hit an RBI single in the bottom of the 12th to walk it off as we won this one 8-7! Garver got the win, allowing just one hit and one walk while striking out one batter, making up for Zoldak’s blown save ... he allowed two hits, a walk and two runs in his inning, an inauspicious start to the season that, hopefully, he’ll make up for in the coming games. Our bats won the game for us, outhitting Detroit 14-10, unfazed by the rough start. Robinson debuted with a 3-6 performance, scoring one run and driving in another two, while Vern Stephens added two hits, two runs and an RBI.

April 16, 1947: Dutch Leonard pitched against Fred Hutchison in game two, Hutchison having won 26 games in 1941 playing in the minor leagues before getting drafted ... he returned from service last year and was 15-14 with a 3.65 ERA and 156 strikeouts, his major league career finally ready to get started after being derailed for so long. We took the lead in the bottom of the first, thanks to an RBI single by Arky Vaughn which scored Jackie Robinson his second major league run, but in the top of the fourth the Tigers came roaring back with an RBI double for Evers and a sac-fly by Eddie Mayo which shot them into the lead 2-1. Hank Greenberg added on with an RBI single in the top of the eighth, and Ned Garver pitched a solid inning in the ninth to give us a chance though this time our bats did not have a comeback ready. We lost this one 3-1, sending us into tomorrow’s rubber match looking to find a way to pick up a series win. Leonard took the loss, pitching eight innings with eight hits, two walks, three strikeouts and three earned runs, and we were out hit 9-5. Vaughn led the offense with a hit, a walk and an RBI, but there really wasn’t anything to cheer about for us offensively after that first inning.

Richie Ashburn’s doing well at AAA through his first three starts, getting five hits in his first 15 at-bats, with two doubles and two RBIs, giving him a .333 average and a .467 slugging percentage. He’s young and raw, and needs to stay at that level for the time being ... but I like what I’m hearing from over in Toledo.

April 17, 1947: Fred Sanford matched up against Preacher Roe in game three -- Roe, at 31, is a veteran with the Tigers staff, but he has only recently arrived there after a trade last year from Pittsburgh ... he won 14 games in 1945 for the Pirates, and then went 15-17 combined last year with an ERA around 3.00 ... he’s a control pitcher who does well when his curve and screwball are curving and screwing properly. We again took the lead in the bottom of the first with a sac-fly by Vern Stephens, and in the bottom of the third we added on with an RBI single, also from Stephens, to go up 2-0. But Detroit kept it interesting with a Hoot Evers groundout that scored Eddie Lake in the top of the fourth, and though we got that run back in the bottom half of the inning, Cavarretta scoring on a fielder’s choice, we weren’t feeling like we had the game fully under control. But Sanford pitched incredibly well, and in the bottom of the eighth he bought himself some insurance by hitting an RBI double to make it a three-run lead. He insisted on staying out in the ninth, but his first batter faced, Roy Cullenbine, hit one out of center and cut the lead to two so we went to Stan Ferens, who blew what was left of our lead ... a Greenberg single and a two-run homer ... INSIDE THE PARK! ... tied the score at 4-4, still no outs. The collapse became complete when, on one out, Paul Richards hit a two-run homer out of left to steal the lead. In the bottom of the inning Harry Walker got a double on one out and then successfully stole his way to third, but Stephens and Robinson struck out and we lost this one 6-4. What a brutal way to lose a series. Sanford was visibly frustrated with me after the game ... he’d gone eight innings with five hits, four walks, four strikeouts and the two runs. In retrospect I should have let him pitch, but hindsight’s always 20/20. I had no way to expect Ferens would throw 23 pitches and allow four hits and four runs without a walk or a strikeout. We actually outhit Detroit 10-9, led by Stephens with two hits and two RBIs. But he and Robinson couldn’t bring Walker home from third, and that’s all that mattered in the end.

Our focus is now on Chicago, where we’re headed to face the 1-1 White Sox for a four game series over three days.

April 18, 1947: Tom Seats got his first start of the year, facing Chicago’s Ray “Pop” Prim. Both are control-oriented pitchers, but Prim is 40 and still going strong, having gone 12-6 last year combined for the Cubs and Sox. It’s definitely going to be an interesting matchup. We rang up Prim for three runs in the top of the first, thanks to an RBI double from Stephens, and RBI single from Cavarretta and Schultz. But the White Sox came back in the fourth with a homer by Chet Laabs and a sac-fly by Bob Kennedy, and just like that this was a tight ballgame. Cavarretta hit another RBI single to give Seats some breathing room, and he made it through seven before Ned Garver took over in the bottom of the eighth still leading by a pair. Sam Zoldak took over in the bottom of the ninth, still leading by two but with one out and Reinaldo Drake on third ... Ralph Hodgin hit a sac-fly to score Drake, bringing up pinch hitter Whitey Platt, who popped out harmlessly to right field as we won 4-3! Tom Seats got the win, lasting seven innings with six hits, a walk, two strikeouts and two runs (only one of which was earned) while Garver held the lead for 1.1 innings with a hit, a walk and a run. Zoldak got the high-leverage save on just four pitches, and we out hit Chicago 11-7. Vern Stephens led our offense with two hits, a walk, two runs and an RBI, while Cavarretta added two hits and two RBIs.

April 19, 1947: This afternoon Diomedes Olivo (0-0, 5.40 ERA, 6.2 IP, 4 K’s, 1.50 WHIP) pitched against Chicago’s Martin Crue, who is making his first start of the year. Crue is a rookie at 27, but he had great stuff stuff playing for the New York Cubans in the Negro Leagues where he was 11-10 with a 3.14 ERA and 4.3 wins above replacement. The White Sox purchased his contract in January and he’s earning just $5,000 this season ... could it be a total steal? We wound up blowing him up n the top of the second, taking the lead off a Wally Moses two-run double and adding an RBI single by Bob Dillinger, and in the top of the third Les Moss batted in two more with a line drive double to give us a 5-0 lead ... Crue had thrown 58 pitches and dug himself a huge hole. Olivo, meanwhile, was pitching the game of his LIFE, dominating the White Sox in a shutout heading into the ninth inning, having allowed just one hit! In the bottom of the ninth, Bob Kennedy grounded out to first, Whitey Platt struck out swinging, and Dave Philley struck out looking as we held tough to the 5-0 win! Olivo earned his first complete game win, with just one hit, two walks and six strikeouts, improving his ERA to 2.30. We outhit them 11-1, led by Wally Moses with two hits, a run and two RBIs, while Arky Vaughn added a hit, two walks and two runs scored. Tomorrow we’ll face our first doubleheader of the year, with Dutch Leonard set to pitch in game one and Jack Kramer looking to make his debut in the second game.
 
April 20, 1947: Dutch Leonard (0-1, 3.38 ERA, 8.0 IP, 3 K’s, 1.25 WHIP) started against Johnny Rigney (0-1, 3.38 ERA, 8.0 IP, 4 K’s, 1.25 WHIP) in pretty much an even matchup on paper for our first game of the day. A Harry Walker triple and a Cavarretta single got us our first run of the game in the top of the first inning, but the White Sox scored three in the bottom of the second, the runs coming off two singles and a groundout. Cavarretta hit an RBI single in the top of the third, and we tied it moments later off a Vern Stephens sac fly, and this one was definitely entertaining for fans of scoring. Dutch Leonard got himself the lead back with a single that scored Vaughn in the top of the fourth, giving us a 4-3 advantage mid-inning, and a Wally Judnich two-run homer in the fifth helped us start to pull away. But the White Sox kept it close with a two-run homer of their own by Tommy Butts, leaving it to Leonard to keep fighting in a tight contest. He had ice in his veins, completing the game as we held on to win 6-5! Leonard improved to 1-1 with a 2.65 ERA, allowing eight hits, two walks and five runs (two earned) with one strikeout, throwing 132 pitches in the process. We outhit the White Sox 11-8, led by Wally Judnich with two hits, a run and two RBIs.

In the late-afternoon game, Jack Kramer made his debut against the White Sox’s Ed Lopat, who was also making his debut -- Lopat, at 28, is in his third season as a big leaguer, and is coming off a 10-11 season and a 3.42 ERA last year with the Sox, having thrown 163 innings with 2.6 wins above replacement. It was a pitching duel early, but Kramer hit a snag in the bottom of the fourth and Chicago picked up three quick runs off a single by Thurman Tucker and a two-run triple by Tommy Butts. But that woke our offense up, and in the top of the fifth we came out SLUGGING ... Wally Moses got us on the board with an RBI double, and then Harry Walker hit a three-run homer to bat us into the lead 4-3! Arky Vaughn hit an RBI single in the seventh to add on, and Kramer stayed out and finished what he started as we held tough and won 5-3, completing the four-game sweep! He only allowed five hits, a walk and three runs (two earned), striking out three while throwing just 93 pitches, a remarkably efficient performance considering he could have collapsed after the three-run fourth. Instead, our bats rallied and we outhit them 12-5, led by Walker’s three-run homer and by leadoff man Bob Dillinger, who finished with two hits and a run, giving him a .346 average now through his first 26 at-bats.

It’s too early to get high on our own press, but a 5-2 start and a half game lead in the American League over Washington is a hell of a lot better a start than anyone expected of us. Next we’ll face Cleveland (3-2, 1 GB) for a pair on their field, before making the short trip to Detroit (3-4, 2 GB) to complete this road trip with another pair.