The Mother of All World Series Comebacks: Part II

There was once a team that faced FIVE World Series elimination games! Not familiar with that series? Learn more by reading Part I .  Otherwise, here’s the rest of the story.

After a three day travel break, the series resumed at Bacharach Park in Atlantic City on Saturday, October 8th. The Chicago American Giants led the Atlantic City Bacharach Giants four games to none, and needed to win only one more game to clinch the series. The teams were moving from Schorling Park, probably the least favorable offensive park in the league, to Bacharach Park, where runs would be more plentiful. One other important difference would be the start time. Games in Chicago had started at 2:30 p.m. To allow the Atlantic City casino hotel daytime workers to see the games, the game times in Atlantic City were all set for 3:00 p.m. With daylight hours in October getting a bit shorter each passing day, getting the games in before dark would become a major challenge.

Game #5 – Saturday, October 8, 1927, Bacharach Park, Atlantic City

Chicago American Giants

1. 1B – Brown, J.
2. 3B – Malarcher
3. RF – Davis, W.
4. SS – Russ
5. LF – Sweatt
6. CF – Jackson
7. C – Brown, L.
8. 2B – Williams, C.
9. P – Foster

Atlantic City Bacharach Giants

1. LF – Reid
2. 3B – Marcelle
3. CF – White, C.
4. 1B – Lewis
5. SS – Lundy
6. RF – Smith, C.
7. C – Jones, E.
8. 2B – Wagner
9. P – Farrell

Chicago went with their star pitcher, Willie Foster, who hadn’t pitched since October 1st. Atlantic City, facing elimination with a very thin pitching staff, brought back Luther Farrell, who had started Game #1 against Foster and had just started Game #4 three days earlier. The American Giants had no lineup change other than Foster pitching, while the Bacharachs moved Marcelle up from number six to number two in the order, and installed Milt Lewis at first base, batting cleanup, in place of Dallard.

A slight drizzle started in the first inning. In the bottom of the second, Lewis hit a smash to Malarcher at third that he couldn’t handle. Lundy followed the infield single with a roller to first base that Jim Brown took unassisted, with Lewis moving to third. Clarence Smith doubled to right-center, scoring Lewis with the first run of the game. Jones then grounded a single between third and short, and when leftfielder Sweatt unsuccessfully tried to throw out Smith at home, Jones took second. Wagner drew a base on balls, and then Farrell grounded a potential double play ball to second, but Russ on the pivot threw the ball over the first baseman’s head, allowing Jones to score the third run of the inning. Marcelle grounded to first to end the inning with Atlantic City up three – nothing.

Going into the fourth, Farrell had given up two walks plus committed an error, but his defense had turned two double plays, so he was just one batter over the minimum when he gave up a lead-off walk to Malarcher. Davis then grounded to Marcelle, whose throw pulled Lewis off the bag at first for an error. Russ hit a popup into short center field that White snagged. With Sweatt batting, catcher Jones picked Malarcher off second when Lundy snuck in behind him. Davis stole second, then, after Sweatt was retired, he stole third and scored when Jones throw rolled into foul ground in left field. Jackson was robbed of a hit on a running catch by right fielder Smith to end the inning, but Chicago had cut the lead down to three to one.

In the fifth Farrell issued his third consecutive lead-off walk, this time to Larry Brown. Williams sacrificed him to second, 1 to 4. Foster grounded to shortstop, with Brown taking third. Jim Brown then grounded to second, where Wagner bobbled the ball and then threw late to first, allowing Larry Brown to score. Farrell got Malarcher to pop up to second, but now, even though Farrell was no-hitting Chicago, the score was three to two.

With the rainy overcast skies, and the late start time, it was getting dark by the top of the seventh. Farrell still had not allowed a hit. Jackson struck out to start the inning. Larry Brown then went down swinging. Williams hit an easy out grounder to second. At this point, umpire McDevitt declared the game over due to darkness, with Atlantic City winning three to two. The Chicago players were of course unhappy, cussing and carrying on over near the box seats, where many women were present. (1)

Although it was a shortened game, Farrell had still thrown a World Series no-hitter. In his seven innings, he had given up two unearned runs, struck out three, and walked five. In a performance just the opposite of his Game #1 appearance where he scattered 13 hits, in this game Foster shut down the Bacharachs except for the second inning, where Atlantic City bunched most of their offense together. In six innings he allowed three runs (two earned) on five hits, with three strikeouts and three walks.

Star of the Game: Farrell.

Game #6 – Sunday, October 9, 1927, Bacharach Park, Atlantic City

Cancelled. Rain had come down heavily soon after Game #5 ended, and it rained all night and thru Sunday. With the vast differences in pitching depth between the two teams, an extra day off certainly helped the Bacharachs beleaguered pitching staff more than it did the American Giants.

Game #6 – Monday, October 10, 1927, Bacharach Park, Atlantic City

Chicago American Giants

1. 1B – Brown, J.
2. 3B – Malarcher
3. RF – Davis, W.
4. SS – Russ
5. CF – Sweatt
6. LF – Rogers
7. C – Brown, L.
8. 2B – Williams, C.
9. P – Powell

Atlantic City Bacharach Giants

1. LF – Reid
2. 3B – Marcelle
3. CF – White, C.
4. 1B – Lewis
5. SS – Lundy
6. RF – Smith, C.
7. C – Jones, E.
8. 2B – Wagner
9. P – Lockhart

Nat Rogers returns to the lineup for the first time since getting stitched up, playing left field and batting sixth, with Sweatt moving back over to center field, and Jackson moving to the bench. As expected, Malarcher goes with Willie Powell on the hill. Lundy keeps his winning lineup the same, but by-passes Jesse Hubbard, who Chicago had hit hard, in favor of Hubert Lockhart, who had pitched reasonably well as the primary relief pitcher early in the series. It was the first time since the opening game Lundy was able to start a truly rested pitcher.

The first sustained threat came in the bottom of the third. Wagner singled to left and continued to second when the ball got under Roger’s glove. Lockhart then sacrificed Wagner to third. Reid grounded to short stop, with Russ firing home to get Wagner. With Marcelle up, Reid went to second on a passed ball. Marcelle grounded softly to short, and beat it out for a hit. White then fouled out to the first baseman.

Leading off the fourth, Lewis hit a home run over the right field fence. It was the first home run by either team in the entire series.

Lockhart protected the one-run lead until the sixth, when Jim Brown homered over the right field fence to tie the game.

In the Atlantic City seventh, Jones singled and Wagner followed with a walk. Expecting a bunt from the pitcher Lockhart, Lundy lifted Willie Powell and brought in IF/P Buck Miller. Lockhart did bunt, and Miller threw to first for the out. George Harney then replaced Miller on the mound, and with second and third, one out, he got Reid on strikes and then Marcelle on a long drive to the fence in right.

Chicago got the potential series-ending run to second in the tenth when Rogers walked and was sacrificed to second by Larry Brown, but Williams fanned and Harney grounded out to short, and that was the last only scoring threat by either team. Umpire Sherry Magee (former major leaguer) called the game due to darkness after the bottom of the tenth with the score tied one – one.

Atlantic City had missed a golden opportunity to get back in the series, but they had again survived sudden death. Lockhart went all 10 innings, giving up a run on five hits, with five strikeouts and two walks. Powell had been tough once again, going six innings with one run on six hits, four strikeouts and two walks. Buck Miller had face just the one batter, and Harney had been effective in relief, pitching three and two-thirds, giving up just two hits and a walk with two strikeouts.

Star of the Game: Lockhart, who gave Atlantic City an unexpected gem of a game and allowed the rest of the staff to have another day off after the rainout.

Game #7 – Tuesday, October 11, 1927, Bacharach Park, Atlantic City

Chicago American Giants

1. 1B – Brown, J.
2. 3B – Malarcher
3. RF – Davis, W.
4. SS – Russ
5. CF – Sweatt
6. LF – Rogers
7. C – Brown, L.
8. 2B – Williams, C.
9. P – Harney

Atlantic City Bacharach Giants

1. RF – Hubbard
2. 3B – Marcelle
3. SS – Lundy
4. 1B – Lewis
5. CF – White, C.
6. C – Jones, E.
7. LF – Dallard
8. 2B – Wagner
9. P – Farrell

Chicago sent Harney, who had just relived the day before, out to start the game, but made no other lineup changes. With two days rest this time, Luther Farrell took the mound for the Bacharachs. Jesse Hubbard started in right field, leading off, White was dropped down to number five in the order, and Dallard was back in the lineup, only this time in left field instead of first base, replacing the light hitting Reid.

Atlantic City jumped out on top in the first when, after Hubbard grounded to short, Marcelle singled to center. Lundy then grounded to short to force Marcelle, but was balked to second by Harney. Lewis singled to drive in Lundy. White walked, but Jones grounded to second to end the inning.

Dallard led off the second for the Bacharachs with a double. Wagner struck out, but Farrell singled to left, and after two innings, it was two – nothing Atlantic City.

Chicago threatened in the fourth when Russ led off with a bad-hop single to second base. Russ stole second and continued on to third when Jones throw sailed into centerfield. Sweatt popped up to Marcelle at third, then Rogers popped up to Wagner and second, and it looked like Farrell might get out of the inning unscathed. But Larry Brown singled to right to score Russ, and then Williams walked. Harney had a chance to do more damage, but grounded out to first to end the inning with the score Atlantic City two, Chicago one.

Jones started the Bacharach fourth by fouling out to catcher. Dallard drew a walk, and then Bert Wagner tripled to left center to make the score three to one. Farrell walked, making it first and third with one out and the top of the order up. Hubbard struck out, and Marcelle popped out to second.

In the fifth, the American Giant defense finally had an inning like some of the nightmare innings the Bacharachs had back in Chicago. Lundy drew a base on balls to lead off. Lewis grounded to Malarcher, who threw to short stop Russ covering the bag at second, only Russ dropped the ball for an error. With White up, Larry Brown allowed a passed ball, giving Atlantic City second and third with none out. White hit a fly ball to center that Sweatt had trouble with, and it dropped at his feat for a two-run double. Jones bunted back to the pitcher Harney, who had time to get White at third but threw wide for an error. Jones then stole second. Dallard walked, giving the Bacharachs bases loaded, with still no outs. Wagner grounded to second, with Williams throwing home to force out White. Farrell hit a fly ball to right, scoring Jones. With two out now, Hubbard hit a long smash to left field, scoring both Dallard and Wagner. Harney got Marcelle to fly to center to end the inning, but the damage was done, and Atlantic City now led eight to one.

Now it was up to Farrell to hold the lead. Russ struck out to start the Chicago sixth, and Marcelle threw out Sweatt, but Rogers singled to left. Farrell hit Larry Brown, and then Jones allowed a passed ball, putting runners at second and third. Williams walked to load the bases, but Harney struck out swinging to leave them loaded, and leave the score eight – one.

Farrell continued to throw zeroes up to the ninth. Harney walked to lead off. Buck Miller, who had replaced Jim Brown at first in the seventh, grounded to short to force Harney at second. With the score out of hand, Malarcher continued to get his bench some work, sending up James Bray to bat for the manager. Bray flied to left. Then Malarcher sent up Willie Foster to bat for Davis, and Foster drew a walk. Farrell may have been tiring, as he was now facing his fortieth batter of the game in Russ. Russ hit a foul popup back to the screen that Jones hauled in for the final out of the game.

Farrell had allowed plenty of base runners, giving up seven hits and six walks plus hitting two batters, but all seven hits were singles, and he scattered the base runners to give up only one run while striking out four. Harney went all the way for Chicago. He allowed eight runs, but only four were earned. He gave up 11 hits to go with five walks, and struck out three.

Star of the Game: Number eight hitter Bert Wagner went two for four with the big RBI triple in the fourth inning when the game was still in doubt.

Game #8 – Wednesday, October 12, 1927, Bacharach Park, Atlantic City

Chicago American Giants

1. CF- Jackson
2. 3B – Malarcher
3. RF – Davis, W.
4. SS – Russ
5. LF – Rogers
6. C – Brown, J.
7. 1B – Sweatt
8. 2B – Williams, C.
9. P – McDonald

Atlantic City Bacharach Giants

1. LF – Dallard
2. 3B – Marcelle
3. SS – Lundy
4. 1B – Lewis
5. CF – White, C.
6. RF – Farrell
7. C – Jones, E.
8. 2B – Wagner
9. P – Hubbard

Malarcher continued to pitch his staff on strict rotation, resisting the probable temptation to start Willie Foster on short rest, and instead going with number four starter Webster McDonald, the side-arming right-hander. Lundy was to use a rested pitcher for second time in three games, with Jesse Hubbard now having 8 days of rest since his second Chicago start.

Chicago had their first significant lineup changes, inserting Jackson back into centerfield, and leading him off, with Sweatt moving from center to first base, and Jim Brown moving from first to catcher, with defensive catcher Larry Brown going to the bench as Malarcher apparently wanted more offense in the lineup after scoring just four runs in the three games since the series left Chicago. Lundy swapped Farrell and Hubbard between pitcher and right field, with Dallard moving up from seventh to the leadoff position.

Chicago jumped on Hubbard immediately in the top of the first. The speedy Jackson hit a slow roller to Dallard at first, and beat him to the bag for an infield single. Malarcher bunted him to second, then Davis tripled to center to score Jackson. Russ followed with a deep fly to left to score Davis, and Rogers ended the inning by grounding to second.

Atlantic City got on the board in the second. After Lewis popped to short, White hit a ‘Texas Leaguer’ just in front of Rogers in left. Farrell then doubled to the right field fence, scoring White. McDonald prevented further damage by striking out both Jones and Wagner.

In the Chicago third, pitcher McDonald led off with a long drive to center that appeared would go over White’s head, but he in desperation reached up and caught the ball with his BARE hand for a sensational catch.

In the bottom of the third, Hubbard tripled to left-center, then Dallard walked. Jim Brown, catching his first game of the series, then allowed a passed ball, scoring Hubbard and moving Dallard to second. Marcelle hit a nubber in front of the plate, and Brown threw him out at first, with Dallard holding at second. Continuing to take advantage of Larry Brown not catching, Dallard stole third, with Malarcher having to make a great stop to prevent the throw from going into left field. Lundy lifted a short fly to left, with Dallard having to hold at third. McDonald then struck out Lewis to keep the score at two – two.

In the fourth, Hubbard allowed two walks but got out of the inning, while McDonald gave up a hit and a hit batsman, but no runs, so the score remained tied at two.

The Chicago fifth started with Williams dropping a single into center field. The pitcher McDonald then doubled to left, scoring Williams. Jackson hit a grounder to first, then Malarcher doubled to right, scoring McDonald. Davis grounded back to the pitcher, then Russ grounded to third to end the threat, but Chicago now led the potential championship clincher four to two.

Atlantic City fought back in their half of the fifth. Dallard tripled to center leading off. Marcelle singled to right, but when he took a wide turn at first, Davis threw behind him, and Marcelle took off for second. Sweatt threw to Russ for the tag, but Russ dropped the throw allowing Marcelle to get in safely on the error. Lundy, batting with two strikes took one that Chicago thought was strike three, but Sherry Magee called it a ball. Given life, Lundy then singled to center, tying the game at four apiece. Lundy then brought in Willie Foster in relief of McDonald, going for the win now instead of holding Foster back for a possible Game #9. Lewis popped up to second for the first out. With White batting, Chicago apparently caught Lundy wandering too far off first after a pitch, but when he then tried to escape towards second Jim Brown threw the ball into centerfield, allowing Lundy to go to third on the error. White was unable to get the go ahead run in as he grounded to third, Lundy holding. With the lefty Foster on the mound, and potentially four innings away from elimination, Lundy used up one of his big bullets on the bench and sent up Clarence Smith to pinch-hit for Farrell. Smith hit a fly ball to Davis in right, but Davis dropped the ball, allowing Lundy to score the go-ahead run on the error. Jones hit a high pop-up behind the pitcher’s mound that Sweatt came in from first to handle to end the inning.

In the sixth, both teams went three up and three down.

Williams drew one of his series high seven walks leading off the seventh. Foster bunted him to second. Jackson popped up to second for the second out, but Malarcher came through with a single to left, tying the game. Malarcher then stole second, but was stranded when White went back to catch Russ’ long fly to center.

After Atlantic City failed to score in the seventh, and Chicago came up scoreless in the eight, the late start time in Atlantic City was starting to come in to play as it was getting dark. The street cars which ran in back of the park were now running with their lights on. It began to look as if another tie game might be called if someone didn’t score soon.

The bottom of the eighth started with Clarence Smith doubling to left. Jones, possibly trying to bunt, hit the ball back to Foster, and beat Foster’s throw to first for a hit, giving the Bacharachs first and third with no one out. Then there was some controversy as Jones stole second as to whether umpire Magee had called time, as he was apparently going to sweep the plate as the steal occurred. With the chance at a win, Lundy sent Ambrose Reid up to bat for Wagner. Reid hit a fly ball to Jackson in center. Smith tagged at third, and headed home. Jackson’s throw was perfect, arriving ahead of Smith, and Jim Brown had the plate blocked. Smith tried to avoid the tag by going around into foul territory, and there he collided with short stop Russ, who had run over as the ball was hit to back up home plate. Smith was then able to sneak around Brown, who came away from the plate to try to reach Smith for the tag, and score. Chicago felt that Smith had gone way out of the baseline to avoid the tag, which is why he ran into Russ, and should have been called out. Magee threw Jim Brown out of the game, as Brown argued furiously. A small riot ensued, with most of the Chicago team coming towards home plate to support their catcher. The Bacharachs also came out of their dugout towards home, and the two teams apparently started arguing back and forth. Fifteen policemen appeared on the field to both protect Magee and to keep the teams from brawling. Order was finally restored, with Russ donning the catching gear, Jackson coming in from center field to play short stop, Sweat moving from first to center, and Buck Miller coming in the game to play first, batting in Jim Brown’s spot. With Jones on third and one out, the Bacharachs still had a chance to pad the lead. Foster fanned Hubbard, but then he walked Dallard. That left it up to Marcelle, who grounded out to Jackson at short stop. Atlantic City lead six to five, and Chicago would have to battle both Hubbard and the impending darkness in the ninth.

Williams was the leadoff batter for Chicago in the ninth, and he started by grounding to Lundy, whose throw sailed over the head of Lewis for a two base error. Foster was up and, apparently trying to sacrifice, bunted through the ball, and Jones came up firing towards second as Williams had tried to get a jump on going to third, and was caught too far off the base, with Lundy tagging him out. Malarcher then called Foster back, and sent up Bray to pinch hit. Bray grounded out to Lundy. Jackson was the last hope for Chicago, and Hubbard was able to strike him out for the six – five win.

This was certainly the most exciting game of the series, and the most controversial. The American Giants felt several calls went against them, with the running out of the baseline non-call costing them the game. Not only did they lose, but Malarcher had used Foster in relief for four innings (17 batters), making it highly unlikely he would start Game #9. Foster had pitched well, allowing just the one disputed run, plus allowing an inherited run to score against McDonald in the fifth on the Davis dropped fly ball. He had allowed only two hits to go with two walks, and had one strikeout. McDonald had pitched four innings, allowing five runs (three earned) on eight hits, with four strikeouts and a walk. Hubbard, recovering from his two disastrous outings in Chicago, got the complete game win, allowing five runs on six hits, four strikeouts and four walks.

Star of the Game: William Dallard went two for three, with two walks, and had the leadoff triple that started the Atlantic City three run fifth inning when they were trailing four to two.

Game #9 – Thursday, October 13, 1927, Bacharach Park, Atlantic City

Chicago American Giants

1. 1B – Brown, J.
2. 3B – Malarcher
3. RF – Davis, W.
4. LF – Rogers
5. C – Bray
6. SS – Russ
7. CF – Sweatt
8. 2B – Williams, C.
9. P – Powell

Atlantic City Bacharach Giants

1. RF – Hubbard
2. 3B – Marcelle
3. SS – Lundy
4. 1B – Lewis
5. CF – White, C.
6. LF – Dallard
7. C – Jones, E.
8. 2B – Wagner
9. P – Lockhart

Now ahead only four games to three, and having used his number one pitcher Foster in relief the day before, Malarcher has to turn to a pitcher on short rest for the first time, with Powell starting on two days rest. That left the manager with either Foster for a potential game ten on short rest, or Harney.Lundy elected to start Lockhart, who was also on two days rest, having dueled Powell to the one – one tie on Monday. If he needed a game ten starter, it would likely be Farrell going on two days rest.

Chicago made some more lineup changes, with Bray, the left-handed hitting, more offensively-skilled catcher, batting fifth, and Jim Brown being relieved of catcher after his quite eventful game there, moving back to first and back to leadoff. Sweatt moved from first back to center, and the light-hitting Jackson moved from center to the bench. Atlantic City replaced Farrell in right with his other pitcher/right fielder, Hubbard, who went back to the leadoff spot, with Dallard dropping down to sixth in the order.

The American Giants offense started right away. Jim Brown led off the game with a walk, and Malarcher sacrificed him to second. Davis then hit a home run over the right field fence. Both teams had only one home run each coming into the game. Rogers singled to left. With Bray batting, Rogers stole second. Bray drew a base on balls. Russ came to the plate, then Rogers and Bray advanced on a passed ball. Russ grounded to Lockhart, slow enough to allow Rogers to score, as Russ was retired at first. Sweatt grounded to Marcelle, but the score was already three to nothing Chicago.

Chicago tried for more in the second. After Williams grounded out to second, and Powell flied out to left, Jim Brown homered over the right field fence (his second home run of the series). Malarcher walked, and at that point, sensing the series slipping away, and with the dangerous lefty hitting Davis up, Lundy brought in Farrell for Lockhart. Davis hit Farrell’s first pitch to right for a single, with Malarcher going to second. Rogers followed with another single to right, scoring Malarcher. Farrell struck out Bray to end the inning, with the score now five –nothing American Giants.

In the bottom half of the inning, White walked, then Dallard hit a grounder to second that Williams booted. Jones, attempting to bunt the runners over, reached on a fielder’s choice when Powell tried but failed to get White at third. With the bases loaded and no outs, Malarcher elected to bring in Foster for Powell as the Bacharachs threatened to get right back in the game, even though Powell had not yet allowed a hit. Wagner flied to center, scoring White with the first Atlantic City run. Farrell drew a walk, loading the bases again, this time with one out. Lundy decided the time was right to use his best bench option, sending up Clarence Smith to bat for the left-handed hitting Hubbard against the tough lefty Foster. Smith hit a high fly to Rogers in left, which was not deep enough to get Dallard in from third. Marcelle flied to right, leaving the bases full, and missing a big opportunity to cut the deficit even more.

Chicago’s revived offense continued in the third. Russ singled to left, and Sweatt followed with a double to left, scoring Russ. Farrell got the next three batters, but now the score was six to one.

Atlantic City made noise in bottom of the inning. After Lundy flied to left, Foster hit Lewis. White singled to right, and when David threw the ball to Williams at second, Lewis tried for third, and was thrown out. Foster then struck out Dallard looking to end the inning.

In the fourth, Malarcher hit a smash that Farrell knocked down, but when Farrell recovered the ball and tried to get Malarcher at first, he threw the ball down the stands in right, and Malarcher ended up on third. Farrell struck Davis out, but Rogers grounded out to second, scoring Malarcher to make the score seven – one.

In the Atlantic City half, Jones had a lead-off single, and Smith walked, but once again Foster got out of the inning.

The Bacharachs kept battling. In the fifth, after Lundy grounded out, Lewis reached on an infield single. White singled to right, and with two on and one out, Lundy went to the bench again, only this time, with the good hitting Dallard up, sending up Ambrose Reid is a bit of a head-scratcher. However, Reid came through with a hit to center, loading the bases. Jones flied to right, scoring Lewis, with both White and Reid moving up on the throw home. Wagner walked, and the bases were loaded again! Farrell singled to right, and both White and Reid scored. Smith grounded to third where Malarcher stepped on the bag to end the inning, but Atlantic City had crawled back to a seven to four deficit after five.

Both pitchers kept runs off the board through the bottom of the seventh, where Reid doubled to right to start the inning. Foster at this point had faced 26 batters after 17 in relief the day before, so Malarcher summoned Rube Currie into the game, along with Larry Brown coming in to catch for defensive purposes. Currie was making his first appearance of the series, and was the number five man on this six man staff, but he was no cipher. He had actually been the “Mr. October” of Negro League pitchers, as Currie had pitched in the World Series for Hilldale in 1924 & 25, and then with Chicago in 1926, winning four games overall. He had a bit of a down year in 1927, with four wins, five losses, but now he had the chance to close out the championship. He got Jones to ground out to third, with Reid holding at second. Then Wagner was retired on a popup to short for the second out. Finally, Farrell hit right back to Currie, and the threat was over.

In the Chicago eighth, Currie lead off (Malarcher hadn’t double switched him into the lineup!) by striking out. Jim Brown singled, and Malarcher walked. Jackson batted for Davis (another head-scratcher) and promptly singled to center, scoring Brown. Malarcher and Jackson then pulled off a double steal. Larry Brown, the defensive replacement catcher who wasn’t double switched into the game into the pitcher’s spot, then hit a three-run homer to right, and the score was now eleven to four.The Atlantic City eighth was uneventful, with Currie setting them down on three grounders.

With the dusk mixed with some fog to contend with, the ninth inning started with Sweatt hitting back to Farrell. Williams singled to right, and at that point, umpire McDevitt ended the World Series, fittingly enough, with another called due to darkness ending.

Foster was the winning pitcher, working five innings in relief and giving up three runs on eight hits, striking out one, walking three, and hitting a batter. Currie earned a save with two perfect innings of relief. Lockhart took the loss with his worst outing of the series: One and two-thirds innings, five runs (four earned), three hits (two home runs) and three walks. Farrell pitched six and two-thirds of relief, and while he did strike out nine batters, he gave up six runs on eleven hits and a walk.

Star of the Game: Jim Brown went two for four with a home run, a walk, and three runs scored.

Series Wrap-up

Chicago took the series five games to three, just as they had the previous year. The home team won seven games and lost only one. The American Giants outscored the Bacharachs 53 to 26, although statistically the batting components were much closer, with Chicago having a team AVG/OBP/SLG of .256/.332/.365 yet scoring 6 runs per game, and Atlantic City having .241/.305/.343 and scoring 3 runs per game. The difference series revolved around Chicago being more ‘clutch’ (efficient) in converting base runners into runs, in Chicago fielding better (16 errors vs. 23 errors) and in Chicago’s much deeper pitching staff. Ironically, the following year, the American Giants would be the team that played the final playoff series short-handed on pitching.

Series MVP: Walter “Steel Arm” Davis. Davis had an AVG/OBP/SLG of .361/.378/.583. He led all Series batters in hits with 13, in triples with 2, and in runs scored with 9. He even stole two bases without being caught. The only thing he didn’t do was walk, as he had only one base on balls.

Best Pitcher: Willie Powell started three games, pitched 16 innings, and had an ERA of 1.13 with a Runs Allow per Game of 1.7. His batting average against was .175, and his slugging average against was .246, both series bests.

Other Series Tidbits:

Nat Rogers had a good hitting series. Limited to 19 plate appearances due to his hit by pitch injury, Rogers had an AVG/OBP/SLG of .400/.526/.533.

Larry Brown had a series high 8 RBIs, even though he only went 4 for 21, and struck out a series high 7 times.

Edward Jones was the best hitter for Atlantic City, with a .370/.419/.370 line, and stealing three bases without getting caught.

Milt Lewis, in only 25 appearances due to starting the series on the bench, had a .348/.400/.696 line.

Oliver Marcelle had a disappointing series at the plate, but he was the toughest to fan, not striking out once in 39 plate appearances.

George Harney pitched well, with a 1.74 ERA, a shutout in 20 2/3 innings.

Luther Farrell, with four complete game starts plus a relief appearance, pitched over half of the Bacharach innings in the series.

Hubert Lockhart had a series best .259 OBP against, but also gave up 3 of the 5 home runs hit.

Bacharach catcher Edward Jones committed 5 errors in the series. American Giant catcher Larry Brown committed none, and threw out 4 of 6 runners that attempted to steal on him.

Complete batting, pitching, and fielding stats for the series

(1) Chicago Defender , 15 October 1927