Homestretch

All down the backstretch of the 1950 baseball season, the World Champion New York Yankees had been chasing the pace-setting Detroit Tigers. As late as mid-August the Yankees were in third place, 4 1/2 games behind. Last week, as the American League pennant race entered the September homestretch, the Yankees spurted into the lead.

With four weeks to go, the four-first-division clubs were still closely bunched; only five games separated the field this week. But Detroit fans, whose team had lost eight of its last 15 games, had to admit that their entry was beginning to look a little winded. Cleveland, smarting under four straight defeats by the Yankees, was falling behind the pace, too. The two hottest teams in the league were the hard-hitting (team batting average: .307) Boston Red Sox, in 3rd place after winning twelve of their last fourteen games, and the Yankees.

Tired Reliables. That the Yankees were even within talking reach of the 1950 pennant was the wonder of the season. Injuries had kept Old Reliable Tommy Henrich (.287 last year) out of the regular line-up most of the season. Joe DiMaggio (hitting .285) was winning games when they counted, but he had been off form all through midseason. Relief Pitcher Joe Page (3 won, 5 lost) was far behind his 1949 performance.

What had kept the aged, ailing Yankees in the race? Big, barrel-shaped Veteran Johnny Mize, 37, was one answer. Called up from Kansas City in the spring, he had hit 19 home runs in 68 games. Three other standbys were Sophomore Outfielder Hank Bauer (.341), Shortstop Phil Rizzuto (.330) and Catcher Yogi Berra (.323). They were having the best seasons of their baseball careers.

Seven Saved. In the pitching department, Manager Casey Stengel had been getting smooth, workmanlike performances from his big four: Ed Lopat, Allie Reynolds, Vic Raschi and Tommy Byrne. Unlike other managers of pennant contenders, Stengel had not been forced to use his starting pitchers in relief to save close games. His ace in the hole for relief work was Tom Ferrick, bought from the St. Louis Browns in June. Righthander Ferrick, 35 and no great shakes with a second-division club, has become the Yankees' 1950 Joe Page. In 18 appearances on the mound for them he has won seven games, saved seven others since the Fourth of July.

With that kind of pitching, and with solid hitting from Bauer, Berra and Rizzuto, Manager Stengel can afford to rest his old reliables occasionally, save them for the games where they will be needed most. If baseball history repeats, two such games will be the last two of the season. Last year, as no New York or Boston fan needs to be told, the Yankees won the pennant by taking the last two from the Red Sox at Yankee Stadium. This year the teams end their seasons with a two-game series in Fenway Park.

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