And That Happened . . . CLASSIC!

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Note: due to the All-Star break, we now bring you a special “Classic” version of “And That Happened.” The following originally ran on the HardballTalk pamphlet, which was mailed to subscribers. Premium subscribers received it via telegram. This installment is from the August 6, 1948 edition. 

Here are the scores. Here are the descriptions and accounts of these games, for which we are at complete liberty to provide by virtue of there being no disclaimer which constrains us otherwise:

Dodgers 4, Reds 1: Jackie Robinson hit a two-run home run and Rex Barney allowed one run while striking out nine in a complete game, giving the Reds fits. But the Reds are giving us fits too, by gum! Did you hear about the Whitaker Chambers testimony the other day? He says Alger Hiss, the former State Department official, was in league with the Russkies! That he was a communist back in the day and that he helped sell us out at Yalta! I don’t know about you, my dear readers, but I take allegations of U.S. officials colluding with the Russians to undermine U.S. interests VERY seriously. I  believe that anyone accused of this should be placed under oath to explain themselves pronto! Thank goodness upstanding Republicans in Congress seem to be taking this seriously as well and won’t give it the old brush off! I don’t agree with everything they stand for, but you can always trust the good old GOP to protect us from Russian meddling!

Indians 9, Yankees 7: You’d think Eddie Lopat vs. Bob Feller would lead to a low-scoring affair, but you’d think wrong. Lopat was touched for five runs, Feller for seven, but the Yankees’ relief pitchers were beat up as well, allowing Rapid Robert to get the win. Joe Gordon hit a three-run homer and Jim Hegan knocked in three himself. Feller likewise (all together now) helped his own cause with two RBI. Still, this was an ugly affair. It looked more like that professional wrestling business that just started airing on the DuMont network. Fella by the name of Jack Brickhouse does the announcing for it. He’s not gonna last if he associates himself with that rabble.

Cubs 5, Braves 4: Phil Cavarretta singled in Emil Verban in the sixth inning to break a 4-4 tie and give the Cubbies their winning margin. Both starters, Vern Bickford of Boston and Cliff Chambers of Chicago, lasted only two-thirds of an inning. I’m not sure why, actually. It couldn’t have been due to a rain delay as then at least one of the starters would’ve gone a full inning, so I’m vexed. I’m going to assume for now that they got into a fight over a dame and socked each others’ lights out, necessitating their exit from the game. “Getting socked in the eye while fighting over a dame” is the second leading cause of injury for ballplayers in the 40s, by the way. The leading cause: being shot by Edward G. Robinson on a boat on the Straits of Florida after he tricks you by claiming that he’ll split the loot with ya.

White Sox 4, Red Sox 3: Sox win! Haha, that’s the first time I’ve ever used that joke! It’s a good one! I’ll retire it now, though. No sense in beating a good joke into the ground. We’d never do that here at The Red Network. Pat Seerey drove in three. Not bad for a guy who is on pace for 102 strikeouts this season and who has led the league in strikeouts three previous times with 101, 99 and 97 strikeouts. Can you imagine someone striking out 100 times?! Let alone twice?! It seems irresponsible to the point of insanity! Baseball is on the road to ruin, my friends.

Giants 7, Pirates 6: The Giants beat the Buccos thanks to three-run double by their starter, Ray Poat, and a couple of RBI a piece from Johnny Mize and Sid Gordon. Poat, by the way, did something weird last year: he got four hits in his month or so in the bigs, but his four hits were a single, a double, a triple and a homer. The season cycle in four safeties. Pretty swell! Also swell: Fritz Ostermueller got shelled for seven runs — six earned — in seven innings. It’s not a bad thing for someone like him to get shelled.

Cardinals 6, Phillies 2: Howie Pollet outdueled Dutch Leonard, allowing two runs in nine innings of work. Only two of the Cardinals’ six runs were earned, by the way. In all of these games there was a pretty wide gulf between earned and unearned runs, actually. Sloppy play by slow fellas, most of whom are fat drinkers who don’t condition themselves with knee-bends and the old medicine ball in the offseason. It’s a sad state of affairs, frankly. The only thing that would make it sadder is if fans who are little boys now one day try to convince everyone that we’re enjoying some sort of “Golden Age” of baseball. I tell ya, that would be a perverse, ahistorical tragedy.

Browns 2, Athletics 1: Bill Kennedy allowed one run over seven and a third and Ned Garver shut out Philly for an inning and a third to get the . . . what? The “save?” What in the world is a “save?” Sometimes it’s hard to get your head around modern baseball, things move so quickly. I’m just thankful that some things remain constant. Like the Browns playing in St. Louis and the Athletics playing in Philadelphia.

Tigers 1, Senators 0: Ten shutout innings from Ted Gray lead the bengals to victory. He and the Tigers defense were as impenetrable as the Berlin Blockade that began a few weeks back. And I gotta tell ya, folks, it looks bad for our freunde in Deutschland! Some people say we can beat it by airlifting in supplies until the Soviets blink, but I fear the only solution to all of this is to take General Curtis LeMay’s advice and send the fighters and bombers in. We won the First World War, we won the Second and you can rest assured we’ll win the Third!

Trevor Bauer pulls on No. 96 for Yokohama’s BayStars

Katelyn Mulcahy/Getty Images
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YOKOHAMA, Japan – Trevor Bauer apparently was shunned by every major league team, so he’s signed a one-year deal with the Yokohama DeNA BayStars.

Before about 75 reporters in a Yokohama hotel, he slipped on the BayStars uniform – No. 96 – on Friday and said all the right things. Not a single Japanese reporter asked him about his suspension in the United States over domestic violence allegations or the reasons surrounding it.

The only question about it came from The Associated Press. Bauer disputed the fact the question suggested he was suspended from the major leagues.

“I don’t believe that’s accurate,” he said of the suspension. “But I’m excited to be here. I’m excited to pitch again. I’ve always wanted to play in Japan.”

He said the suspension dealt technically with matters of pay, and he said he had contacted major league teams about playing this year. He said he would have been eligible, but did not say if he had offers.

The 2020 NL Cy Young Award winner was released by the Los Angeles Dodgers on Jan. 12, three weeks after an arbitrator reduced his suspension imposed by Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred from 324 to 194 games.

The penalty followed an investigation into domestic violence, which the pitcher has denied.

Manfred suspended Bauer last April for violating the league’s domestic violence and sexual assault policy, after a San Diego woman said he beat and sexually abused her in 2021.

Bauer has maintained he did nothing wrong, saying everything that happened between him and the woman was consensual. He was never charged with a crime.

Bauer joined his hometown Dodgers before the 2021 season and was 8-5 with a 2.59 ERA in 17 starts before being placed on paid leave.

Bauer said his goal with the BayStars was to strike out 200 and keep his average fastball velocity at 96 mph – hence his uniform number. He said he is also working on a better change-up pitch.

He said he hoped to play by mid-April – about two weeks after the Japanese season begins – and said he has been training for the last 1 1/2 years.

“I’ve been doing a lot of strength training and throwing,” he said. “I didn’t really take any time off. So I’ve had a year and a half of development time. I’m stronger than ever. More powerful than ever.”

Yokohama has not won a title in 25 years, and Bauer said that was his goal in the one-year deal.

“First and foremost, I want to help the Stars win a championship,” he said. “That involves pitching well. That involves helping teammates and learning from them. If they have questions – you know – share my knowledge with them.”

He also repeated several times about his desire to play in Japan, dating from a collegiate tournament in 2009 at the Tokyo Dome. He said playing in Japan was on his mind even before winning the Cy Young – and also immediately after.

“The Tokyo Dome was sold out,” he said. “I’d never played in front of that many people – probably combined in my life. In the United States, college games aren’t very big, so seeing that amount of passion. How many people came to a college game in Japan. It really struck me.”

He said he’d been practicing with the Japanese ball, which he said was slightly softer with higher seams.

“But overall it just feels like a baseball and the pitches move the same. The velocity is similar. I don’t notice much of a difference.”

Other teams in Japan have made similar controversial signings before.

Former major league reliever Roberto Osuna – who received a 75-game suspension for violating MLB’s domestic violence policy – signed last season with the Chiba Lotte Marines.

He has signed for this season with the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks.

In 1987, Dodgers relief pitcher Steve Howe, who had a career plagued with drug problems, tried to sign with the Seibu Lions. But he did not play in the country after the Japanese baseball commissioner disqualified Howe because of his history of drug abuse.

Bauer was an All-Star in 2018 and went 83-69 with a 3.79 ERA in 10 seasons for Arizona (2012), Cleveland, (2013-19), Cincinnati (2019-20) and the Dodgers. He won the NL Cy Young Award with Cincinnati during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.