The Era -- Day By Day

[Fading Fast]

And alas, there are no Extras on Sunday -- but the broadcast of today's game, the only baseball broadcast to be listed on the Library of Congress's National Recording Registry, is available for your enjoyment (10/5 is the correct date, not 10/8.)

Listen close, and you'll hear Joe and Sally screaming.

First inning and the Yankees just scored a run, runners on first and third and two outs - come on. They just got the third out - only one run. Phew. I don't have time for the full broadcast, but it is incredibly engaging. Dodgers are up in the bottom of the first.

 

[Fading Fast]

Bottom of the first, Dodgers three up and three down. 1-0 Yankees lead heading into the second. I must go back to work.

 

[Fading Fast]

Okay, I listened to one more inning. Three up, three down for the Yankees in the top of the second. Camilli leads off with a double in the bottom of the second, but three outs in a row after that.

Now, I'm really going back to work.

 

[LizzieMaine]

The advantage to listening in 2021 is that there's always a pause control!

 

[Fading Fast]

The advantage to listening in 2021 is that there's always a pause control!

Going to try to listen to more later.

 

[LizzieMaine]

(Spending a sleepless night on the fire escape, trying to escape the stifling heat, Joe and Sally gaze up at the hazy sky pondering the horrors of the past day. "One strike," mumbles Joe. "ONE STRIKE. 'At's all'e needed! An' he GOT it, an' we WONNA game -- annen Owen drops t'ball annen we DON'T winna game. I ASK YOU!" "Don' blame Mickey," growls Sally. "Y'c'd see it's a SPITBALL. Ya c'd pract'ly see t' spit comin' offit! 'At CASEY! 'At FATHEAD CASEY!" "I bet he feels real bad," mutters Joe. "HE OTTA!" yells Sally. "HEY! SHUTTUP OUTTEAH! comes a yell from a window across the alley. "PEOPLE TRY'NA SLEEP!" There is a silence. Somewhere in the distance a cat yowls as a garbage can tips over. Then comes the voice again from across the alley. "BUT YEAH! YA RIGHT! T'BUM *OTTA* FEEL BAD! ")

(It says a lot that the most cogent analysis of the Series so far comes from the drama critic.)

(All well and good, but if they don't snap out of it, "BUMS" is gonna make a roaring comeback.)

(Pretty chubby for hoboes. Must be ex-bankers.)

("Nice Work Dodgers!" There's no need to be sarcastic.)

(And then Larry went home and got blind stinking drunk.)

If you missed Leo Durocher's appearance with Fred Allen last Wednesday, it was a pip. Big laugh of the evening came when tenor Kenny Baker asked Leo, "what's your racket, buddy?" "I'm a Dodger," replied Durocher. "Huh!" returned Baker. "I'm deferred, myself!" Leo is so good in these radio appearances he ought to get himself an AFRA card and "play juvenile leads in the washboard weepers."

(Sparks is the most passive superhero you'll ever meet.)

(The one time in your life you tell the truth, sort of...)

(Because all Nazi spies take out library cards under their real names....)

(Real masters of disguise don't order their whiskers out of the Johnson Smith catalogue.)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

At least the Eagle had the sensitivity not to run these particular photos.

But sensitivity doesn't seem to be the way the News is going today.

I mean, seriously. RUB IT IN.

Veeda is shocked when three freaks and a dog break into her secret basement lair.

Well now, Professor! An Australian billionaire ripe for the harvest!

Kill him. With your last breath, KILL HIM.

Poor Steve. He'll soon learn that Tracy has no friends.

Coming Events Cast Their Shadows Before....

A SHADOWY FIGURE? Hey, maybe Veronica really did meet a sailor when she was sixteen.

Gee Moon, for somebody who knew nothing about that bank robbery, you sure seem to know a lot about it.

 

[LizzieMaine]

And while we wait for the World Series Extra today, here's a bonus as the News goes all-in on the Giant Flushing Meadow Stadium idea...

There's obviously no way to build this until after the war, but the idea does offer interesting possibilities, especially since it isn't seen as a permanent home for any of the three baseball teams. In 1941 the big stadium in Cleveland is only being used by the Indians occasionally, for night and big weekend games, while they play most of their schedule in their old park. Would a model like that work in New York? It's an intriguing possibility.

 

[Harp]

Poetic justice is for Burma to shoot Judas. Or, she can watch him suffer from a lower abdominal
wound from a .30-06 round. Either way the ba***rd is finished. Hopefully, Raven is ok.

 

[Fading Fast]

View attachment 366977 (Spending a sleepless night on the fire escape, trying to escape the stifling heat, Joe and Sally gaze up at the hazy sky pondering the horrors of the past day. "One strike," mumbles Joe. "ONE STRIKE. 'At's all'e needed! An' he GOT it, an' we WONNA game -- annen Owen drops t'ball annen we DON'T winna game. I ASK YOU!" "Don' blame Mickey," growls Sally. "Y'c'd see it's a SPITBALL. Ya c'd pract'ly see t' spit comin' offit! 'At CASEY! 'At FATHEAD CASEY!" "I bet he feels real bad," mutters Joe. "HE OTTA!" yells Sally. "HEY! SHUTTUP OUTTEAH! comes a yell from a window across the alley. "PEOPLE TRY'NA SLEEP!" There is a silence. Somewhere in the distance a cat yowls as a garbage can tips over. Then comes the voice again from across the alley. "BUT YEAH! YA RIGHT! T'BUM *OTTA* FEEL BAD! ")...

There are no words for what happened, no words.

Separately, how crazy is it that the horses scratching in today's races are on page one. It's amazing how popular horse racing once was.

... (And then Larry went home and got blind stinking drunk.)

Fitz's knee injury was a bad break or bad luck, yesterday was not.

...[ (Because all Nazi spies take out library cards under their real names....)..

They are fussy about records.

...[ (Real masters of disguise don't order their whiskers out of the Johnson Smith catalogue.)

Where was he storing this stuff? Also, as we know from "Terry and the Pirates," he's going to smell like spirit gum.

...
View attachment 367018 At least the Eagle had the sensitivity not to run these particular photos.....

My God, just seeing it in the News is like having to relive it. Yes, the pictures make it worse with that stupid arrow pointing to the stupid ball. It's all so horrible. Seriously, how often does that play happen that way?

.. But sensitivity doesn't seem to be the way the News is going today.....

The morbid and macabre editor was in charge today.

"Painfully dragging his malformed leg, he negotiated a circuitous route to the roof of a five-story loft building at 244 E. 84th St., near Second Ave. The police and a crowd estimated at nearly 1500 watched his climb, which resembled that of an injured fly, and begged him to come down."

"Painfully dragging his malformed leg...watched his climb, which resembled that of an injured fly."

Jesus, there was no other way to say this?

Oh, cheer those VD numbers now, WWII is coming.

.. Kill him. With your last breath, KILL HIM....

"Shoot him!" was my immediate thought before I even read your comment Lizzie.

I remind Burma of The Fedora Lounge Rulebook for Killing a TV, Movie or Comic-Strip Enemy, which states: "Always kill your enemy as fast as you can and, then, check carefully to make sure he or she is dead."

And while we wait for the World Series Extra today, here's a bonus as the News goes all-in on the Giant Flushing Meadow Stadium idea...

View attachment 367041
View attachment 367043
View attachment 367044
There's obviously no way to build this until after the war, but the idea does offer interesting possibilities, especially since it isn't seen as a permanent home for any of the three baseball teams. In 1941 the big stadium in Cleveland is only being used by the Indians occasionally, for night and big weekend games, while they play most of their schedule in their old park. Would a model like that work in New York? It's an intriguing possibility.

It is a neat idea considering all the sports teams and concentration of people to support it. But alas...

 

[LizzieMaine]

Mickey Owen lived a long and eventful life. After his retirement he'll run a well-regarded baseball school, he'll become the sheriff of his home county, and he'll even run for Lieutenant Governor of Missouri. But when he dies in 2005, his obituary in the New York Times will read "MICKEY OWEN DIES AT 89 -- ALLOWED FATEFUL PASSED BALL."

Even Bill Buckner got a better deal than that.

 

[Fading Fast]

Mickey Owen lived a long and eventful life. After his retirement he'll run a well-regarded baseball school, he'll become the sheriff of his home county, and he'll even run for Lieutenant Governor of Missouri. But when he dies in 2005, his obituary in the New York Times will read "MICKEY OWEN DIES AT 89 -- ALLOWED FATEFUL PASSED BALL."

Even Bill Buckner got a better deal than that.

Fair or not, when you play on a big stage....

 

[Fading Fast]

An extra edition coming out?

 

[LizzieMaine]

("'M home," says Joe, tossing the paper on the kitchen table. "'S fa suppa? I'm beat." "Brisket," murmurs Sally. "Got a sale on at Bohack's." "Howza baby?" "Had a fuss on so I giv'ah some parragoric. Inneah sleepin' now." "Hey, guess what, Solly hit a numba for sixteen dollas t'day. Combinated." "Zat so. I hope you ain' playin' no numbahs again, c'n we affo'adat, wit'out me woikin?" "Nah, I give it up. Looka what happ'n'd ya brutta." "'At was alla frameup, t'ey lettim' off witta wawnin'. Hey, at leas' go in, take off 'em smelly ovehalls 'foah ya seddowna table, y'wan'ev'yti'ng t'smella brine?" "Yeh, yeh, I'm goin'. Gonna be anutta hot'un t'night." "Nah," says Sally. "Onna radio t'ey said s'posta cool off a bit. Fall's comin'." "Yeh," sighs Joe. "Fall's comin'.")

 

[LizzieMaine]

There was no official "World Series Film" produced by baseball in 1941, but the newsreels were all there, and there's a bit of footage floating around that's worth looking at.

This is silent footage taken from Movietone News of scenes from games 3, 4, and 5. There's a quick shot of Russo's line drive hitting Fitz in the knee and of Reese fielding the ball to end the inning -- and though it's hard to see the ball itself, you can get an idea from Reese's positioning of how high and far it ricocheted off Fitz's leg. Pee Wee *caught it on the fly* to make the out. Fitz doesn't even fall over -- he stands there dazed and then starts walking off the field, as Owen, Lavagetto, and Dressen offer to help and Durocher makes some kind of gesture toward either Russo or the Yankee bench. No doubt a friendly "a-OK sign." Then there's a clip of the Casey pitch to Henrich getting away from Owen, and either he's got the greatest sinker of all time or it was loaded up. And then the aftermath of that incident, and on into the final game with Wyatt throwing a wild pitch to let in a run and then giving up a homer to Henrich. BAH.

And here's interviews with Owen and Henrich shot in the 1990s in which they discuss the play. Owen is still taking full responsibility. Casey is dead, but until his death also denied throwing a spitter. But they should also have interviewed Pee Wee, who insisted to *his* dying day that it *was* a spitter. Watch the pitch, shown here again, and decide for yourself.

https://www.mlb.com/video/bb-moments-mickey-owen-c6780133

(Note the recreated play-by-play call by Mel Allen, who was nowhere near a microphone during the actual Series.)

 

[Fading Fast]

View attachment 367134
View attachment 367135 ("'M home," says Joe, tossing the paper on the kitchen table. "'S fa suppa? I'm beat." "Brisket," murmurs Sally. "Got a sale on at Bohack's." "Howza baby?" "Had a fuss on so I giv'ah some parragoric. Inneah sleepin' now." "Hey, guess what, Solly hit a numba for sixteen dollas t'day. Combinated." "Zat so. I hope you ain' playin' no numbahs again, c'n we affo'adat, wit'out me woikin?" "Nah, I give it up. Looka what happ'n'd ya brutta." "'At was alla frameup, t'ey lettim' off witta wawnin'. Hey, at leas' go in, take off 'em smelly ovehalls 'foah ya seddowna table, y'wan'ev'yti'ng t'smella brine?" "Yeh, yeh, I'm goin'. Gonna be anutta hot'un t'night." "Nah," says Sally. "Onna radio t'ey said s'posta cool off a bit. Fall's comin'." "Yeh," sighs Joe. "Fall's comin'.")

Been there, can't talk about the elephant in the room.

There was no official "World Series Film" produced by baseball in 1941, but the newsreels were all there, and there's a bit of footage floating around that's worth looking at.

This is silent footage taken from Movietone News of scenes from games 3, 4, and 5. There's a quick shot of Russo's line drive hitting Fitz in the knee and of Reese fielding the ball to end the inning -- and though it's hard to see the ball itself, you can get an idea from Reese's positioning of how high and far it ricocheted off Fitz's leg. Pee Wee *caught it on the fly* to make the out. Fitz doesn't even fall over -- he stands there dazed and then starts walking off the field, as Owen, Lavagetto, and Dressen offer to help and Durocher makes some kind of gesture toward either Russo or the Yankee bench. No doubt a friendly "a-OK sign." Then there's a clip of the Casey pitch to Henrich getting away from Owen, and either he's got the greatest sinker of all time or it was loaded up. And then the aftermath of that incident, and on into the final game with Wyatt throwing a wild pitch to let in a run and then giving up a homer to Henrich. BAH.

And here's interviews with Owen and Henrich shot in the 1990s in which they discuss the play. Owen is still taking full responsibility. Casey is dead, but until his death also denied throwing a spitter. But they should also have interviewed Pee Wee, who insisted to *his* dying day that it *was* a spitter. Watch the pitch, shown here again, and decide for yourself.

https://www.mlb.com/video/bb-moments-mickey-owen-c6780133

(Note the recreated play-by-play call by Mel Allen, who was nowhere near a microphone during the actual Series.)

Good stuff, amazing footage.

Did I mention I hate baseball and will never watch another game. (Sotto voce) Anyone know when pitchers and catchers report next year? Asking for a friend, I don't care myself.

Lizzie, congrats on the Red Sox last night.

 

[LizzieMaine]

One Eighth of a Pennant Fever Grips Hub, or something like that. My mother calls me this morning and says "What does 'Bucky F. Dent' mean? Is that his real name?" She's getting old, you know, and the memory is the first thing to go.

I find it hard to get excited over wildcards, especially after what we've just seen in the 1941 pennant race, where all the chips are on the table right down the line. But one must keep up with the times, and as long as Sale doesn't do something stupid like have a Covid relapse I'll be happy.

I don't know about 2022, but the Dodgers will be back in Havana in February 1942, and Hugh Casey will get down to some serious drinking with his pal Hemingway. Now that's baseball.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Three great German armies were reported gaining momentum today in a drive for Moscow which military experts agreed constituted Adolf Hitler's biggest gamble of the war. Reports reaching London indicated that at least 1,500,000 men are engaged directly in the Moscow push, with 1,500,000 reserves backing them up, accompanied by at least 5000 tanks and 5000 planes. It was also believed that behind the German lines an estimated 750,000 war prisoners are being used to build or repair roads, bridges, communications networks, and railroad lines to ensure passage for the enormous quantities of supplies needed by the German invasion force.

Reports from Berlin assert that German forces have captured Mariupol and Berdyansk, only 110 miles from Rostov, heart of the great Donets industrial basin. Both cities are centers for iron and steel manufacture and fabrication.

Dispatches from Moscow acknowledged that Hitler appears to have thrown all his resources into a final drive for Moscow in an attempt to take the Soviet capital and secure the Eastern Front before the arrival of winter. The reports also state that the German thrusts have been beaten off at every point along the central front, with heavy Nazi losses. It is also reported that Red Army forces have turned aside a German offensive against Murmansk after an 18-day battle in which Nazi advance units were cut off from their bases and driven back to their original lines.

President Roosevelt indicated to leaders of the House and Senate today that he favors the repeal of two sections of the Neutrality Act that forbid the arming of U. S. merchant ships and their travel into belligerent zones. That call came today as the House, by a 69-25 vote, rejected a measure that would have withheld any aid to the Soviet Union as a condition of expanding the Reconstruction Finance Corporation's lending authority by $1,500,000,000.

In North Conway, New Hampshire, a five-year-old girl is safe after wandering into the wilderness on Mt. Choora, where she remained lost for eight days. Little Pamela Hollingsworth insisted, when she was found by search parties, that she wasn't lost at all. She was looking for her parents, who were the ones who were lost. The child is believed to have survived by drinking from streams, and told her rescuers that she was hungry, since she was afraid to eat any of the wild berries she found in the woods.

In Rapid City, South Dakota, a parachutist who ended up marooned atop a mountain peak for almost a week told rescuers that he survived his ordeal by fighting rats, mice, and chipmunks for scraps of food and kept his mind occupied by naming the rocks he found. 29-year-old Texan George Hopkins was trapped atop 865-foot Devil's Tower after jumping out of an airplane to win a $50 bet with a friend, and was rescued from the peak by a party of eight skilled mountain climbers after he'd been there for more than 130 hours. Hopkins told his rescuers he kept warm in the howling 50-mile-an-hour winds by walking around a lot.

("'At Casey..." begins Joe. "Hope t'em Reds c'n hold out till winta," interrupts Sally. "T'woil' be betta off wit'tout 'at Hitla innit. Don'cha t'ink?")

(Mr. Clark, formerly of Clark & McCullough, is a zany-type comedian who appears with glasses drawn on his face with a grease pencil and never, ever stops talking. Somehow I think a kilt is just a bit too much.)

(It's OK to cry. It really is.)

(Ripped from the headlines.)

(Joe McCarthy is a poor winner.)

Hugh Casey is planning to meet with Larry MacPhail this week to ask about the bonus he says is due him under a promise from the Dodger president "if he had a good year." Casey is threatening to retire to run a chain of filling stations in Georgia if he doesn't get the bonus, and plans to show Mr. MacPhail a pile of newspaper clippings in which Leo Durocher is quoted as saying that the Dodgers wouldn't have won the pennant without his pitching.

Dolph Camilli is still shaking his head over how the Series worked out, insisting that the Dodgers should have won both the third and fourth games but for the Fitzsimmons injury and the passed-ball incident, and confidently predicts the Flock will get a rematch with the Yanks next year after fighting off strong opposition from the Cardinals and Reds. In the meantime, he says he'll go home to his farm in Leytonville, California and "try to forget baseball for a while."

Phil Rizzuto acknowledges that the Dodgers "showed plenty" in the Series, and that the Yankees were quite impressed with Pete Reiser. "But," he observes, "we have three or four Pete Reisers on our club."

George Burns and Gracie Allen open their fall season tonight over WEAF with a new program for a new sponsor -- soap this year instead of canned meat. Paul Whiteman joins the show as bandleader, and "appears to be sticking to his diet."

(Somewhere Hedy is saying 'I sure ducked a bullet with that boob.'")

("IF I CAN'T HAVE THIS BOLD MAN," runs Jo's inner monologue, "NOBODY WILL!")

("And I am not Mrs. Vahgner!" *whisking off wig* "I am Colonel von Fashy of der Abwehr!" *clicks heels and gives stiff-arm salute.*)

(Wait, can you repeat all that, I think got a little lost there...)

 

[LizzieMaine]

And in the Daily News...

Detective Miller only wishes he was as tough a gal as Barbara Stanwyck.

Little late, ain'cha?

For some reason I question Jimmy's sincerity here.

SHUT UP AND DIG, BALDY! PUNJAB WANTS A SANDWICH!

"Chee, Mr. Tracy, does this mean we don't go out for a soda?"

Well, if I *had* seen him, I think I'd remember it.

Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all.

I dunno, I just never thought slouching in a chair, chewing gum, and hitting on the staff was all that good a look for a doctor.

That's the most mirthless "heh heh" we've ever heard.

Mush's expression and posture in panel one says it all.

 

[Fading Fast]

...
(Joe McCarthy is a poor winner.)...

Certainly not his finest moment.

...Phil Rizzuto acknowledges that the Dodgers "showed plenty" in the Series, and that the Yankees were quite impressed with Pete Reiser. "But," he observes, "we have three or four Pete Reisers on our club."...

Not his finest moment either.

...
("IF I CAN'T HAVE THIS BOLD MAN," runs Jo's inner monologue, "NOBODY WILL!")...

I think you're right, Lizzie. Jo might want to talk to somebody professional. Tomorrow, at your session, ask your high school counselor if he does private practice work as well.

Great Jo line though, "Stand back, Hartford Oakdale! Don't you dare try to paw my daughter!" [But in her head, "you can put those strong hands on me though big boy."]

And in the Daily News...

Detective Miller only wishes he was as tough a gal as Barbara Stanwyck.....

Stanwyck was a straight-shooter, no-Hollywood-glam girl. I can easily see her, if directed, putting all 105 pounds of herself into a punch and, also, feeling horrible that it went awry. All very Stanwyck.

...
SHUT UP AND DIG, BALDY! PUNJAB WANTS A SANDWICH!....

Warbucks is such a whiner lately: "I'm going to die, wah! wah! Oh, I'm going to live, I'm hungry, wah! wah!"

... Well, if I *had* seen him, I think I'd remember it....

What happened to Uncle Bim from yesterday?

...
Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all.....

Not just a doctor, but a plastic surgeon. Good luck finding one of those in a remote part of China in 1941.

...
That's the most mirthless "heh heh" we've ever heard.....

Don't show your true colors until after you're married, it's the number-one rule of gold digging.

...
Mush's expression and posture in panel one says it all.

That is very well done. You just wish he'd drop the characterization - it's hard in 2021 to see it.