Negro Leagues Game of the Day on This Date in 1928 (May 14th)
May 14, 2020 by Kevin Johnson · Leave a Comment
Monday, May 14th – Detroit Stars at Chicago American Giants again, at Schorling Park on a Monday afternoon.
Here are the starting lineups
Detroit Stars:
1. Wade Johnston, LF
2. Halley Harding, SS
3. Turkey Stearnes, CF
4. Ed Rile, 1B
5. Hurley McNair, RF
6. Ted Radcliffe, C
7. Claude Johnson, 3B
8. Bingo DeMoss, 2B
9. Cristobal Torriente, P
Chicago American Giants
1. Jelly Gardner, CF
2. Bobby Williams, 3B
3. Jim Brown, 1B
4. Pythias Russ, C
5. Steel Arm Davis, RF
6. Charles Williams, SS
7. Nat Rogers, LF
8. Red Haley, 2B
9. Willie Powell, P
In 1928 Detroit has only 5 ‘dedicated’ pitchers on the roster (most teams have 6) so OF Cristobal Torriente is pretty much a regular in the pitching rotation, with 1B Ed Rile pitching a few games when needed. Torriente has often served as an ‘extra arm’ on his teams, but this year he will throw a career high number of games and innings. He is opposed by Willie Powell, a 24-year-old who was 14-4 in 1927.
The two pitchers matched scoreless first innings. In the bottom of the second, Steal Arm Davis doubled to lead off, but was thrown out trying to steal third, killing any rally.
In the top of the 3rd Claude Johnson singled to lead off, was sacrificed to second by DeMoss, and brought home on a single to left by Torriente. Catcher Pythias Russ complained that Johnson was out on the throw from Nat Rogers. 1-0 Detroit.
The pitchers continued to dominate until the top of the 6th inning, when Turkey Stearnes, who has previously struck out twice against Powell, led off with a home run over the right field fence.
Both pitchers continued to perform well, and after just 1 hour and 53 minutes, the game was over, with Detroit winning 2-0.
NOTES: Torriente, with a complete game shutout, gave up just 5 hits and 0 walks, striking out two. Powell pitched almost as well, giving up the 2 runs, 5 hits, 0 walks and 10 (!) strikeouts. On the batting side, Hurley McNair and Ted Radcliffe both had 2 hits, and Turkey Stearnes had the big home run.
Other NNL Scores:
Memphis Red Sox-4, Birmingham Black Barons-1 (Lewis Park)
St. Louis Stars-17, Cuban Stars (West)-13 (Stars Park)
ECL Scores:
Baltimore Black Sox-9, Philadelphia Tigers-3 (Mayo Island Park, Richmond, VA)
