Two Winning Streaks

Two long winning streaks have propelled the Boston Red Sox and the Brooklyn Dodgers into first place in the American and National League in my 1947 APBA baseball replay and have given me an indication these could be the teams that face each other in the World Series at season’s end.

The Red Sox won 14 games in a row before dropping the second game of a doubleheader against the Chicago White Sox on June 15, 1947. The streak moved the Red Sox from two games behind New York and in second place on June 1 to three games ahead of the Yankees by mid-June.

And the Dodgers won 12 consecutive games before losing to the St. Louis Cardinals on an eighth-inning home run by Marty Marion on June 15. That streak gave Brooklyn a tie with the Cards. They had been four games behind them and 2.5 games behind the surprising Boston Braves at the start of June.


The Dodgers’ game was a classic and one of the reasons why replaying seasons with APBA is enjoyable. The Bums and Cards were scoreless until the top of the 6^th inning when Gene Hermanski belted a two-run home run.  Hermanski platoons with Pete Reiser in the outfield and it seems whenever he plays he does well. He hit three home runs in a game earlier in the season. Manager Burt Shotton may consider using Hermanski more. Later in the inning Charles “Bull” Edwards bulled a triple deep into Sportsman’s Park, scoring Al Gionfriddo, and the Dodgers led, 3-0.


In the bottom of the seventh inning, Stan Musial hit his 14^th home run with Terry Moore and Red Schoendienst on base, tying the game. It was Musial’s 63^rd RBI.


The two teams remained tied until the bottom of the eighth. Shortstop Marty Marion, with one out, clubbed one into the hot St. Louis humid air, clearing the fence and giving the Birds a 4-3 lead. It was Marion’s first home run of the season and it came at the right time.


Harry “The Cat” Breechen shut down Brooklyn in the ninth, striking out Edwards for the last out in his complete game, and giving him a 10-1 record, the best in the majors.


Here were the standings on June 1
St. Louis 30-15
Boston 29-17
Brooklyn 26-19


And here are the standings through June 15
Brooklyn 38-21
St. Louis 39-22
Boston 39-23


Brooklyn has a relatively easy upcoming schedule, traveling to Chicago for four games, Cincinnati for three and Pittsburgh for two before hosting Boston in a three-game series. Brooklyn and St. Louis won’t meet again until a four-game series that begins on July 16.

The Cardinals will host Philadelphia for three games, New York for three, Boston for two and Cincinnati for three games.


In the American League, the Red Sox were led by Ted Williams, of course, who batted .339 during the 15 games, drove in 16 RBIs and hit three home runs. The Yankees’ slugger, Joe DiMaggio had similar stats, hitting .333 with 10 RBIs and three home runs of his own, but only won nine of 16 games during the stretch, to Boston’s 13 of 14 games.


Here were the standings on June 1
New York 31-16
Boston 28-17
Detroit 29-18


And here they are through June 15
Boston 41-18
New York 40-23
Detroit 37-24


Both teams have decent schedules ahead. Boston has a home stand with the St. Louis Brows, Cleveland and Detroit before heading to Washington and Philadelphia before facing New York. The Yankees host the White Sox, Detroit and Cleveland before traveling to Philadelphia and Washington before going to Boston.


It’s still early in the season. I’m not even half way through, but if it keeps going like this with hotly contested pennant races, 1947 will be an amazing year to replay.