HARLEM RALLIES, WINS FIRST TITLE SINCE 1931

In another great see-saw battle, the Harlem Knight scored three times in the ninth to defeat the Milton Teetotalers, 10-8, to win the 1937 World Series in 5 games.

The Knights, winning their first World Series since 1931, had 17 hits while their opponents, in their first World Series since 1928, managed 11. Harlem grabbed the lead quickly when Al Simmons homered in the first inning. Milton got to 20-game winner Van Mungo in the bottom of the first as Mungo walked 5 men. Milton batted around, heading into the second inning with a 3-1 lead. Carl Hubbell then cruised through the next three innings. Mungo settled down, and matched Hubbell's goose-eggs over the same stretch.

Harlem has been a resilient team through the whole season, and as we have seen in the past few games, are never down and out. Hubbell retired Dixie Walker and Mungo to start the 5th. However, Charlie Gehringer and Al Simmons both singled. Rudy York then drilled a 2-0 pitch just out of Hubbell's reach into centerfield, scoring Gehringer. Hank Greenberg then followed with his own RBI single, scoring Simmons to tie the game at 3. Hubbell faced Bill Dickey, and Dickey responded with a three-run home run down the right field line to make the game 6-3 and chasing Hubbell. Johnny VanderMeer allowed two men to reach base before finally retiring Walker.

Mungo, like Hubbell, started the fifth by retiring the first two he faced, but gave up singles to Gabby Hartnett and Moose Solters. When Mungo's curveball to Frank Demaree skipped past Dickey, Hartnett scored to make it 6-4. After Demaree walked, Roy Hughes singled into right to make it a one-run game. Pinky Whitney hit a drive into the gap, scoring Demaree and Hughes, but Whitney was thrown out trying to stretch it into a double. However, the damage was done, and Milton had regained the lead, 7-6.

In the top of the sixth, Al Simmons doubled home Charlie Gehringer, who had double, to tie the game at 7. But Moose Solters drew a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the sixth to return the lead to Milton. Heading into the ninth with the lead, Buck Ross thruck out Bill Dickey. However, clutch-hitting Mike Kreevich hit Ross' first offering into the seats to tie the game at 8. Ross then hit Cronin on the forearm, and Ross was replaced with Fred Fitzsimmons. Fitzsimmons, a former Knight, got Jimmy Ripple to fly out to center before George Selkirk tripled to score Cronin and give Harlem the 9-8 lead. Now, instead of being 2 outs from heading back to Harlem, the Teetotaler were not 3 outs away from the end of their season.

Al Simmons singled home Selkirk to give Harlem a 10-8 lead. Johnny Murphy was called on to shut the door in the botoom of the inning, and set Milton down in order to give the championship to Harlem. Veteran Al Simmons, who had some clutch defense and hit .458 with one home run and 4 RBI, was selected MVP of the World Series.

                       1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9     R  H  E   LOB DP
1937 Knights           1  0  0  0  5  1  0  0  3    10 17  0    11  1
1937 Teetotalers       3  0  0  0  4  1  0  0  0     8 11  0    10  0
 
Knights              AB  R  H BI   AVG    Teetotalers          AB  R  H BI   AVG
Gehringer         2b  5  2  3  0  .444    Hack              3b  4  1  1  0  .286       
Simmons           cf  6  2  5  3  .458    Appling           ss  4  2  1  0  .417       
York              3b  6  1  2  1  .250    Moore             lf  5  0  1  0  .063       
Greenberg         1b  5  1  1  1  .250    Camilli           1b  4  1  2  0  .333       
Dickey            c   5  1  1  3  .368    Hartnett          c   3  1  3  2  .400       
Kreevich          lf  4  1  3  1  .438    Solters           cf  3  1  1  1  .250       
Cronin            ss  3  1  1  0  .143     Fitzsim'ns       p   0  0  0  0  .000       
Walker            rf  3  0  0  0  .077    Demaree           rf  4  1  0  0  .143       
 ASmith           p   0  0  0  0  .000    Hughes            2b  3  1  1  2  .200       
 ESmith           p   1  0  0  0  .000     Hassett          ph  1  0  0  0  .500       
 Ripple           ph  1  0  0  0  .667    Hubbell           p   2  0  0  0  .000       
 Murphy           p   0  0  0  0  .000     VanderMeer       p   0  0  0  0  .000       
Mungo             p   2  0  0  0  .400     Whitney          ph  1  0  1  2  .444       
 Selkirk          rf  3  1  1  1  .333     Ross             p   1  0  0  0  .000       
                     44 10 17 10           Fox              cf  1  0  0  0  .385       
                                                               36  8 11  7             
 
Knights                          INN  H  R ER BB  K PCH STR   ERA
Mungo                            4.2  7  7  7  6  5 108  57  6.17
ASmith                           0.1  1  0  0  0  0   2   2  9.00
ESmith           W 1-0           3.0  3  1  1  3  3  61  35  1.35
Murphy           S 1             1.0  0  0  0  0  0   4   3  0.00
                                 9.0 11  8  8  9  8 175  97 
 
Teetotalers                      INN  H  R ER BB  K PCH STR   ERA
Hubbell                          4.2  8  6  6  1  3  92  52  4.97
VanderMeer                       0.1  1  0  0  1  0  10   4  2.25
Ross             BS 1, L 0-1     3.1  6  3  3  0  2  48  30  9.00
Fitzsim'ns                       0.2  2  1  1  1  0  15   7 27.00
                                 9.0 17 10 10  3  5 165  93 
 
HAR: Selkirk inserted at rf in the 5th
     Ripple batted for ESmith in the 9th
MIL: Whitney batted for VanderMeer in the 5th
     Fox inserted at cf in the 9th
     Hassett batted for Hughes in the 9th
 
2B-Gehringer. 3B-Selkirk. HR-Simmons(1), Dickey(1), Kreevich(1). 
SB-Hughes(1). K-Simmons, Dickey 2, Cronin, Mungo, Appling, Moore 2, Camilli, 
Solters, Demaree, Hughes, Ross. BB-Gehringer, Kreevich, Cronin, Hack, 
Appling, Camilli, Hartnett 2, Solters 2, Demaree, Hughes. HBP-Cronin. 
HB-Ross. WP-Mungo. GWRBI: Selkirk
Temperature: 60, Sky: clear, Wind: out to center at 23 MPH.