1947 Memorial Day Shibe Park Philadelphia, PA

By Daniel W. Reid

North Wales, PA

I have one memory from my youth, growing up in Philadelphia, that I have wanted to share with you for some time. Nothing changed as a result of that 1947 Memorial Day in old Shibe Park in Philadelphia; but it was a day etched forever in my memory. It was the day the A’s shut out the Yankees in both ends of a double-header.

The Yanks were world champions that year, winning the AL championship by 12 games over Detroit with a 97-57 record. They would go on to defeat the frustrated Brooklyn Dodgers in seven close games in the World Series. (That was the same Series containing both Cookie Lavagetto’s 4th-Game double to spoil Floyd Bevens’ no-hitter; and Al Gionfriddo’s catch of a potential DiMaggio grand slam to save the 6th game.) The A’s muddled along in the middle of the pack with a 78-76 record, 19 games out. (There were only eight teams on those days: Boston and Cleveland also finished ahead of the A’s; the White Sox, Washington Senators, and St. Louis Browns trailed far behind.)

But I digress. My Dad and I attended all the holiday double-headers in those days, even though the A’s and Phils never offered much hope. (This was of course before television sent games to the evening.) This day, in prospect, would be no different. Our only encouragement lay in the fact that we would not be facing 19-game winner Allie Reynolds and the rookie Vic Raschi (who went 7-2 in part of a year).

The first game matched the Yanks’ Spud Chandler, whose 2.46 ERA led the American League, with Dick Fowler, a solid performer who went 12-11 that year with a 2.81 ERA. These were the Yankees with an outfield of DiMaggio, Tommy Henrich, and “King Kong” Keller; of ’45 batting champ George “Snuffy” Stirnweiss at 2nd, .300-hitting George McQuinn at 1st, and Hall-of-Famer Phil Rizzuto at short. Aaron Robinson was the catcher, with Bobby Brown playing 3rd.

The A’s countered with power-hitting shortstop (13 hr’s) Eddie Joost at short, sometimes reckless Elmer Valo in right, “Fearless” Ferris Fain at 1st, George “Bingo” Binks in left, slugger (14 hr’s!) Sam Chapman in center, Mike Guerra or Buddy Rosar catching, steady Pete Suder at 2nd, and the reliable Hank Majeski (who set a major league fielding mark that year of .988) at 3rd. Outfielder Barney McCoskey, the other half of Connie Mack’s infamous George Kell trade with Detroit, didn’t play. He may have been injured. McCoskey finished third in the league that year with a .328 average. (Ted Williams was tops with .343.)

The first game was scoreless through six. Chandler was working on a perfect game; Fowler gave up only three hits and two walks over the same stretch. But Joost led off the home 7th with a double, whereupon the frustrated Chandler wild pitched him to third. Valo followed with a clean hit to left to score Joost; and that was that. Chandler ended up losing a 3-hitter, 1-0; Fowler gave up five hits, three of them doubles; but no two hits in the same inning. Henrich-Keller-DiMaggio-McQuinn were a combined two for fifteen, with one walk. Of course, this was 1947: both pitchers pitched complete games.

Our attitude toward double-headers in those days was: if the home team won one, it was a good day. We had our win, but stayed anyway. The second game was to match Floyd Bevens (who later flirted with that World Series no-hitter after a nondescript 7-13 season) with Joe Coleman, Sr., an erratic pitcher who went 6-12 that year. The line-ups remained the same except at catcher: Rosar for Guerra for the A's; young Yogi Berra took over for Robinson for the Yanks.

This was a typical Joe Coleman good game: constantly pitching himself in and out of trouble. Thanks to a Fain error in the 4th and a walk to Henrich in the 9th (one of three walks total, one intentional), there was no inning in which the Yanks were set down in order. Coleman gave up nine hits while striking out eight; and the Yanks left twelve on base.

Meanwhile, the A’s, who also had nine hits, managed to make the most of their opportunities. Errors by Bevens and Rizzuto in the 2nd set the table for Pete Suder to drive in a run with a hit; and Joost reached the bleachers with a drive in the 5th. In the home 7th, pitcher Coleman singled with one out, and Joost beat out a roller to deep short. After Valo popped up: Fain drove them both in with a triple, and we all breathed a little easier. Once again, both pitchers pitched complete games.